Evaluation of adaptability and nutritional quality of 54 tomato accessions grown in Oman

Tomato production in Oman depends on imported hybrids, which do not follow any officially regulated import mechanism leading to the exploitation of tomato growers. This study evaluated the adaptability and nutritional quality of 54 tomato genotypes acquired from AVRDC, Taiwan, tested at two locations viz. Agricultural Experimental Station, Sultan Qaboos University and at Agricultural Research Center Rumais, Barka, Oman, during two successive growing seasons. Tomato genotypes were classified into different categories like fresh market tomato, cherry tomato, high-lycopene tomato and heat tolerant accessions. Significant variations were observed for yield, yield related traits and fruit quality not only within the accessions, but also when grown at different locations. For fresh market category, CLN2545A, CLN2498E, CLN2498D, PT4664B, CLN2001A and CL5915 indicated dominance over other accessions in relation to yield and fruit number over years and locations. Most of these accessions exhibited the TSS contents from 4 to 6.5%. In high-lycopene category, CLN2071C, CLN2366B and CLN2366A produced higher yields, respectively. In cherry tomato category, the CHT1050SC, CHT1050SB, CHT1050SG and CHT1050SA were high yielder and their TSS contents ranged from 6.9 to 7.7%. The lycopene and vitamin C contents in these 54 tomato accessions varied significantly (P≤0.05) and ranged from 6.64 to 90.37 mg kg^-1 and 25.7 to 329.9 mg kg^-1, respectively. The highest lycopene (90.37 mg kg^-1) and vitamin C (329.9 mg kg^-1) values were observed for the fresh market accession BL1173 and CLN2498D, respectively. Overall the results revealed that some of the accessions have promising adaptability to local conditions and could be further exploited in breeding programs for crop improvement and nutritional quality.