The effect of covering material on the yield, quality and chemical composition of greenhouse‐grown tomato fruit

Summary

Abstract BACKGROUND During the last few decades, greenhouse technology for horticultural crops has focused on retaining optimum conditions within the greenhouse environment that could allow for a compromise between maximum yields and minimum production costs. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of three greenhouse covering materials and five harvesting dates on the yield and quality parameters of hydroponically produced tomato fruit, as well as on energy consumption. RESULTS Plants had a higher growth rate at early stages for S‐PE cover material, while differences were minimized at later stages. Tocopherol content was the highest for ID‐PE material and harvesting later than 170 days after transplanting (DAT), while sugar content (fructose and glucose) was the highest for S‐PE