The effect of covering material on the yield, quality and chemical composition of greenhouse-grown tomato fruit.

BACKGROUND: During the last few decades, greenhouse technology for horticultural crops has focused on retaining optimum conditions within the greenhouse environment that could allow for a compromise between maximum yields and minimum production costs. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of three greenhouse covering materials and five harvesting dates on the yield and quality parameters of hydroponically produced tomato fruit, as well as on energy consumption. RESULTS: Plants had a higher growth rate at early stages for S-PE cover material, while differences were minimized at later stages. Tocopherol content was the highest for ID-PE material and harvesting later than 170 days after transplanting (DAT), while sugar content (fructose and glucose) was the highest for S-PE material and 157 DAT. Organic acid content was the highest at early harvestings, especially for 7-PE and S-PE cover materials, while it exhibited decreasing trends at later harvesting dates. Antioxidant properties showed a varied response to cover materials and harvesting dates, while ß-carotene, carotenoids and chlorophylls were the highest for 7-PE material. CONCLUSIONS: The results showed that both cover materials and harvesting date may affect significantly tomato fruit quality, especially sugar and organic acid contents which are associated with fruit taste, as well as tocopherols which contribute to antioxidant properties and pigments that are associated with fruit ripening and earliness of marketable maturity. © 2018 Society of Chemical Industry.