Productivity and quality of bagging fruit of hybrid tomatoes

Borges, Raoni Terra de Oliveira; Oliveira, Roberta Camargos de; Lucas, Fabio Teixeira; Lana, Regina Maria Quintão; Luz, José Magno Queiroz

Tomato cultivation is challenging due to the high susceptibility to various pests and diseases. Fruit borer insects make fruits unfeasible for commercialization because this favors colonization by pathogens. The loss due to borers can be avoided by bagging the bunches of fruit, helping the conventional crop to be more sustainable, reduce the use of pesticides, reduce the residue in fruits and improve the quality of life of rural workers, by less exposure to agrochemicals and poisoning problems. The results are products of better quality and with the possibility of better profitability. The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficiency of tomato bagging in the control of fruit borer insects, and its effects on lycopene content, taste, productivity and profitability. The experiment was conducted in a field in the municipality of Uberaba-MG, from November 2016 to September 2017. The experimental design was a randomized block design, in a 3 x 5 factorial, with four replications.

The factors consisted of three tomato hybrids:

Dominador (salad), Ravena (Italian) and Carina Star (Santa Cruz), and fruit bagging types, made by TNW (tissue-non-woven), tulle, organza, brown craft and a control, without fruit bagging. The decision of bagging use depends on the pest incidence in the area and the change in the agronomic characteristics of the tomato. The organza and tulle fruits bagging reduce theincidence of borer insects, relative to the control, in the cultivation in spring-summer. The Dominador presents higher brix content among the evaluated hybrids. Carina Star, when bagged with organza, produces fruits with higher levels of lycopene, and is 116% superior to the other cultivars. From the second harvest, organza fabric is the most profitable bagging, since it is the only one that can be reused several times and is therefore more sustainable.

KEYWORDS:

Solanumlycopersicum. Alternative control of insects. Sustainability. INTRODUCTIONTomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum) is the second most consumed and appreciated vegetable in many countries (MEENA et al., 2017). The fruits contain nineteen amino acids, hydrophilic antioxidants (anthocyanins, phenolics, vitamin C and flavonols), lipophilic antioxidants (lycopene, β- carotene and tocopherols), macro and micronutrients(NASIR; HUSSAIN; JABBAR, 2015). All of these compounds are good for health, and prevent obesity,hyperglycemic and cardiovascular disorders, and cancer (VIUDA-MARTOS, et al., 2014; PERVEEN et al., 2015). Biological and physicochemical properties, such as being a source of the neurotransmitter serotonin (HANO et al., 2017), increase fruits consumption of these fruits (KLUNKLIN; SAVAGE, 2017) and consequently increases crop demand as well. Brazilian tomato production in 2017 was estimated at 4.5 million tons of fruit (IBGE, 2018). In addition to the nutritional and economic aspects, the culture has a social relevance due to the generation of employment and being a source of income for several families (PEIXOTO et al., 2017; PRAMANIK; MOHAPATRA, 2017), which strengthens family farming, reducing rural exodus and promotes regional development (CARVALHO et al., 2014). Tomato cultivation is complex and highly demanding in inputs and labor (FILGUEIRA, 2012). Among the cultivation aspects, phytosanitary substantially reflects tomato yield and quality since the species is host to a wide range of pathogens and insects, creating direct or indirect damages from the seedlings phase to the harvest season (GOMES; CASTRO, 2017) with incidence and degree of damage depending on the region and cultivation Received: 14/05/18 Accepted: 20/11/19

O cultivo do tomateiro é desafiador devido a suscetibilidade a diversas pragas e doenças. Os insetos broqueadores de frutos inviabilizam os frutos para comercialização, além de favorecerem a colonização por patógenos. As perdas por brocas podem ser evitadas com o ensacamento dos cachos, podendo ser, inclusive, um aliado ao cultivo convencional por permitir maior sustentabilidade dos sistemas, com menor uso de defensivos, menor resíduo nos frutos e melhoria na qualidade de vida dos trabalhadores rurais, pela menor exposição a agroquímicos e problemas de intoxicações, resultando em produtos de melhor qualidade e com possibilidade de melhor rentabilidade. Com isso, objetivou-se avaliar a eficiência do ensacamento de cachos de tomate, no controle dos insetos broqueadores de frutos, os seus efeitos no teor de licopeno, no sabor, na produtividade e na rentabilidade. O experimento foi conduzido em campo no Município de Uberaba-MG, no período de novembro de 2016 a setembro de 2017. O delineamento experimental foi o de blocos ao acaso, em esquema fatorial 3 x 5, com quatro repetições.

Os fatores constituíram de três híbridos de tomate:

Dominador (salada), Ravena (italiano) e Carina Star (Santa Cruz) e os invólucros foram confeccionados com TNT (tecido-não-tecido), tule, organza e papel pardo. O uso do ensacamento depende da incidência da praga na área e da alteração nos caracteres agronômicos do tomateiro. O ensacamento dos frutos com organza e tule reduzem a incidência de insetos broqueadores, com relação a testemunha, no cultivo em primavera-verão. O Dominador apresenta maior teor de brix entre os híbridos avaliados. Carina Star, quando ensacado com organza, produz os frutos com maiores teores de licopeno. A partir da segunda safra, o tecido organza é o ensacamento mais rentável, pois é o único que permite ser reutilizado por várias vezes, sendo, portanto, mais sustentável que os demais.