Utilization ofrin,nor, andalcAlleles to Extend Tomato Fruit Availability

In some locations, fruit of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) is only available for short times. Excess production of tomato during these short periods leads to a saturated market and low prices. These periods can be followed by scarcity and high prices. A few mutant genes, i.e., alcobaca (alc), ripening inhibitor (rin), and non-ripening (nor), in heterozygous form, extend shelf-life and take more time to go from mature green to red ripe as compared to normal genotypes. The present study was conducted on 79 genotypes of tomato (15 normal genotypes, 4 mutant homozygotes, and their 60 F1 hybrids produced in line × tester fashion) in two seasons to determine whether these mutant alleles can extend the fruit availability period of tomato by storing fruit longer on the plant and then at room temperature or in controlled conditions. The F1 hybrids involving these mutant alleles delay fruit ripening on the plant, improve yield potential, increase shelf-life, and extend fruit availability. A few hybrids are recommended for further testing in the main season. No hybrid was found suitable for production in periods of high temperature due to their low yield potential, which likely meant that parental lines lacked heat tolerance. Incorporation of these mutant alleles in heat-tolerant genotypes and developing hybrids by crossing them with normal or heat-tolerant lines could be a viable method to further extend fruit availability period of tomato.