Prior to peeling, tomatoes of each cultivar were randomly selected and evaluated for a number of physical attributes. For each fruit, tomato mass was measured with an electronic balance with 0.1 g sensitivity.
Tomato dimensional attributes related to peelability were selected and measured according to Garcia and Barrett (2006a).Asillustratedin
Fig. 1, fruit height, maximum lateral diameter, height of maximum
lateral diameter, shoulder height, and stem scar diameter were measured on whole tomatoes, while pericarp wall thickness and red layer
thickness were measured on cut fruits at three locations: equator side,
stem end, and blossom end. All dimensional measurements were
performed using a Vernier digital caliper with an accuracy of 0.1 mm.
During the 2009 season, 197 and 79 fruits were evaluated for cultivars
AB2 and CXD179, respectively. Tomatoes with uniform shape and size
were selected for peeling evaluations based on measurements of the
physical attributes. They weighed between 60 and 110 g and possessed
similar size (60 ± 6 mm in height and 49 ± 6 mm in width). The data
of physical attributes of raw tomatoes were compared by using student
t-test at a 0.05 probability level for the two cultivars. Correlations
between dimensional attributes and peeling loss or peeled-off thickness
were examined with Pearson correlation coefficient.