Anderson, R. E. and A. E. Thompson.
Acid content in tomatoes is especially important in processed tomatoes and tomato products. Improved cultural and fertility practices resulting in increased yields have tended to lawer the acid content of the fruit. Maturity of fruit and variety are additional factors that may contribute to variation in the acid content. Increased acidity is desired as a flavoring constituent and to retard development of thermophilic organisms responsible for considerable spoilage in processed tomatoes.
In the course of investigations on methods of measurement and factors influencing acidity in tomato fruits, the following data were collected. The five high acid lines came from individual plants selected from the indicated accessions. They all are putative hybrids between L. esculentum x L. pimpinellifolium. The Y-13 strain is a high pigment line from Campbell Soup Company. The variety Stokesdale represents the upper level of acidity found in the varieties comonly in cultivation.
The data are expressed as grams of total titratable acidity as citric acid/100 grams fresh juice. The samples were uniformly selected at the turning stage, ripened in control chambers at 20 deg. C for 12 days, and then analyzed for total acidity.
Variety or Strain Acid Content
Y-13 0.301
Rutgers 0.384
Stokesdale 0.421
Petrillo (PI 201775) 0.551
U. of Ill. Acc. 1295 (PI 129028) 1.065
" 1319 (PI 163246) 1.164
" 1276 (PI 118407) 1.244
" 1317 (PI 155369) 1.291
" 1326 (PI 155375) 1.343