Effect of Salinity on Tomato Fruit Ripening

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Abstract
Tomato (L. esculentum Mill) plants cultivars [Hosen Eilon, Arava, Rutgers, All-round, Exhibition and Moneymaker] grown on half-strength Hoagland solution were exposed at anthesis to 3 or 6 g/l NaCl. Salinity shortened the time of fruit development by 4-15%. Fruits of salt-treated plants were smaller and tasted better than did fruits of control plants. This occurred for ripe fruits tested on the day of picking and for those picked at 100% development and allowed to ripen at room temperature for 9 days. Percetage of dry wt, total soluble solids and titratable acidity; content of reducing sugars, Cl-, Na+ and various pericarp pigments; and electrical conductivity of the juice were higher in fruits of saline-treated plants than they were in those of control plants, while the pH was lower. Ethylene and CO2 evolution rates during ripening, as well as the activities of pectin methyl esterase, polymethylgalacturonase and polygalacturonase, were higher in fruits of the saline-treated plants. The treatment with 6 g/l NaCl shortened the fruit shelf life considerably.