The genetic potential of accessions from Solanum section Lycopersicon (S. lycopersicum L., S. lycopersicum var. cerasiforme, S pimpinellifolium L., and S. habrochaites Knaap & Spooner) for breeding tomato taste has been studied in three environments with clonal replicates. | Turkish Journal of Agriculture and Forestry Turk J Agric For (2018) 42: 309-321 © TÜBİTAK doi: Research Article Evaluation of germplasm in Solanum section Lycopersicon for tomato taste improvement 1 2 1, 2, , Luis GALIANA-BALAGUER , Ginés IBÁÑEZ , Jaime CEBOLLA-CORNEJO * , Salvador ROSELLÓ * ** Mixed Research Unit on AgriFood Quality (UJI-UPV), Institute for Conservation & Improvement of Valentian Agrodiversity (COMAV), Universitat Politècnica de València (Polytechnic University of Valencia), Valencia, Spain 2 Mixed Research Unit on AgriFood Quality (UJI-UPV), Department of Agrarian Sciences and Natural Environment, Jaume I University, Castelló de la Plana, Spain 1 Received: Accepted/Published Online: Final Version: Abstract: The genetic potential of accessions from Solanum section Lycopersicon (S. lycopersicum L., S. lycopersicum var. cerasiforme, S pimpinellifolium L., and S. habrochaites Knaap & Spooner) for breeding tomato taste has been studied in three environments with clonal replicates. The environment clearly affected the accumulation and level of variation of sugars and acids and derived variables through a direct effect. It seems that photosynthetically active radiation would exert a major effect on sugar accumulation while in the case of organic acids the effect of temperature might be more important. Even more, important genotype × environment interactions can considerably modify the real value of germplasm, being considerably higher in wild species. The environment affected not only mean contents but also the levels of variation. Thus, the need to develop multienvironmental screening programs is suggested to identify solid sources of variation. An important intraaccession variability was also found in wild germplasm, emphasizing the need to analyze a high number of plants per accession in order to identify sources of variation. Accessions .
