Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) is among the economically most important vegetables in Europe, valued for its bioactive properties due to significant contents of vitamins, carotenoids, and phenolic compounds. In this study, the tomato cultivar Big Beef F1 was grown in the open field (OF) and under polytunnels in central Serbia during 3 years. | Turkish Journal of Agriculture and Forestry Research Article Turk J Agric For (2017) 41: 113-120 © TÜBİTAK doi: Contents of phenolics and carotenoids in tomato grown under polytunnels with different UV-transmission rates 1 1, 1 2 Bojana ŽIVANOVIĆ , Marija VIDOVIĆ *, Sonja MILIĆ KOMIĆ , Ljubinko JOVANOVIĆ , 3 1 1 Predrag KOLARŽ , Filis MORINA , Sonja VELJOVIĆ JOVANOVIĆ 1 Institute for Multidisciplinary Research, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia 2 Faculty of Ecological Agriculture, Educons University, Sremska Kamenica, Serbia 3 Institute of Physics, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia Received: Accepted/Published Online: Final Version: Abstract: Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) is among the economically most important vegetables in Europe, valued for its bioactive properties due to significant contents of vitamins, carotenoids, and phenolic compounds. In this study, the tomato cultivar Big Beef F1 was grown in the open field (OF) and under polytunnels in central Serbia during 3 years. Polytunnels were covered with two foils (both with 57% reduced photosynthetic active radiation, PAR) differing in UV-A and UV-B transmittance. The aim of our work was to determine the influence of light conditions on accumulation of phytonutrients (carotenoids and phenolics) in the peel and flesh of ripe tomato fruits. The amount of effective antioxidants, caffeic acid, and quercetin (phenolics with ortho-dihydroxy substitution) in the peel was the highest in tomato fruits grown in the OF (maximal PAR and UV-A and UV-B radiation). Moreover, the content of leaf epidermal flavonoids was the highest in the OF. The content of lycopene and β-carotene in the flesh of tomato fruit was higher under the polytunnel with higher UV-transmittance. Our results showed that selection of the right light conditions (quality and intensity) for tomato production has a significant effect on
