A Review of Recent Research on Tomato Nutrition, Breeding and Post-Harvest Technology with Reference to Fruit Quality

The continued importance of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) as a vegetable and salad commodity is reflected by the large volume of research on virtually all aspects of the crop. Since 2000, over a thousand scientific papers per year relating to tomato research have been published, not including those in the less widely read literature, conference and workshop proceedings. In the present paper, we survey recent findings in the areas of tomato nutrition, the influence of salinity on nutrition and growth, tomato breeding and genetic resources, and the post-harvest physiology, storage and ripening of fruit. Research findings are considered particularly with respect to fruit quality, as reflected in the quality standards of the European Union.