Effects of Root Temperature and Cluster Position on Fruit Quality of Two Cocktail Tomato Cultivars

Summary

Managing root temperature can strongly influence plant growth in various species. Our previous work has shown that a positive effect of root cooling on the nutritional quality (sugars, vitamin C, and carotenoids levels) of two cocktail tomato cultivars, while the yield and mineral content was moderately reduced in two seasons. But few studies have investigated which cluster quality is more influenced by root temperature. The main purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of root temperature and different cluster positions (the first to the fourth clusters) on fruit quality parameters of two cocktail tomato cultivars (‘Amoroso’ and ‘Delioso’). Two root temperatures, cool (10 °C) and control (18–22 °C), were applied to the roots of hydroponically cultivated tomato plants after inflor