LAUSR

BACKGROUND Tomatoes of different types and cultivars are grown in different parts of the world, and the phenological, pomological and biochemical characteristics of these types and cultivars may differ from each other, and therefore their ripening behaviours also differs. This study aims to determine the respiration rate and ethylene production of twelve commonly grown cultivars in Turkey at harvest and during ripening stage. The fruits were harvested at mature green stage and categorized according to their size as small, medium, and large-fruited cultivars. RESULTS At harvest time, the highest respiration rate was determined from 'Moda' (small-fruited) cultivar and the lowest was at 'Elips' (medium-fruited). The highest ethylene production was determined from 'Sarikiz' (small-fruited) and the lowest was at 'Alberty' (large-fruited). All tomato cultivars examined in the study showed climacteric respiration behavior during the ripening, and it was determined that small-fruited types had higher respiration rate and ethylene production than those of medium and large-fruited ones. 'Sarikiz' (small-fruited) had the highest climacteric peak and 'Gulpembe' (large-fruited) had the lowest. Moreover, it was determined that the respiration rate of small-fruited cultivars were 5.01-fold higher than other cultivars and this type of cultivars produced 4.19-fold higher ethylene than that of big-fruited cultivars at harvest. Medium-fruited tomatoes had 1.90-fold higher respiration rate and 1.64-fold ethylene production than that of big-fruited tomatoes. CONCLUSION It was determined that fruit size and respiration rate were related independently of the cultivars, but there was no relationship between fruit size and ethylene production. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.