Firmness of Harvested Rin and Normal Tomatoes as Affected by Ethylene1

Firmness values were determined for isogenic normal and rin tomato fruits ( Lycopersicon esculetum Mill.) that were held at 20°C in air or 10 ppm ethylene. Exogenous ethylene induced a slight increase in softening of detached rin fruits but these fruits do not soften as much as normal fruit. A two step sequence for softening is postulated.