In plant species of indeterminate growth, like tomato, fruits of different maturity stage
occur on the same plant due to continuous flowering and fructification. There are disagreements
regarding the ideal fruit harvest stage to obtain seeds of maximum physiological quality
(Valdes and Gray, 1998). Demir and Ellis (1992) reported that although tomato seeds acquired
germination capacity after maximum dry matter accumulation, the best physiological quality
was attained sometime later and differed among the trusses. Maximum physiological quality
was reached earlier in the third truss compared to the first two trusses Thus the maximum drymatter accumulation occurred 45 days after anthesis (DAA) in the first truss compared with
55 and 45 DAA in the first and second trusses respectively. The maximum seed germination
percentages occurred 75 (first and second truss) and 55 DAA (third truss) before they
declined.