EFFECT OF SEA WATER IRRIGATION ON ANTIOXIDANT POWER DURING TOMATO BERRIES RIPENING

Tomato is moderately tolerant to salt and under stress conditions activates antioxidative defence mechanisms, thus the aim of the present research was the evaluation of sea water effects on the antioxidant compounds of tomato berries.
In the berries, from plants grown in a glasshouse in closed cycle hydroponic culture, ascorbate (reduced and oxidised), NADPH and NADP⁺, individual tocopherols, lipoic acid (reduced and oxidised), polyphenols (phenolic acids and flavonoids) and total antioxidant activity have been analysed.
In salt treated berries (8 mS/cm, corresponding to 10% sea water) the reduced power of ascorbate might be used against oxidative stress imposed during ripening in saline conditions, explaining its decrease.
Lipoic acid (LA) and dihydrolipoic (DHLA) acid, were found at both ripening stages and salinity levels.
Growing factors and salt conditions had a similar effect on lipophilic antioxidant activity (LAA) and tocopherols indicating a likely correlation between LAA and the content of tocopherols.

III International Symposium on Models for Plant Growth, Environmental Control and Farm Management in Protected Cultivation (HortiModel 2006)

A. Incerti, A. Belligno, L. Mengali, F. Navari-Izzo, R. Izzo

tomato, sea water, antioxidant power, polyphenols, lipoic acid

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2006.718.78