Thursday, August 11, 2016
Georgia Ballroom (Sheraton Hotel Atlanta)
North Carolina’s Food Processing and Manufacturing Initiative aims to expand the underutilized workforce and maximize resources within the state following the decline of other biomass processing industries and the increased demand for locally grown value added products. Tomatoes for processing have been suggested, as they can be used for a salsa product brand developed by a previously existing company. Currently this product is largely made up of tomatoes from out of state, but there is a strong desire to use locally sourced produce in the manufacturing of this salsa. The objective of the study was to evaluate processing tomato cultivars in diverse North Carolina environments and determine their yield, quality and their suitability to be used for salsa production. Ten cultivars (HMX2905, HMX2906, HMX3881, HMX3882, HMX3888, HMX4909, HMX7883, N6402, N6404, and SPESSO6415) were grown in a randomized complete block experimental design with three replications. The trials were grown on three commercial tomato grower’s farms and plants managed using standard commercial practices on each farm. Among the three sites, marketable yield ranged from 27.77 tons/acre to 2.45 tons/acre. N6402 and N6404 were consistently and statistically highest in marketable yield among all three sites, where HMX3888 was consistently lowest in yield. Blossom end rot was a problem at site 3. HMX4909 consistently fell within the desired range for pH, 3.60-4.40, while HMX7883 consistently fell outside of the range. A 2-3% higher soluble solids content was found in tomatoes from site 3 compared to the other sites. HMX2905 was consistently in the top half for lycopene content, between 88.36 and 109.02 mg/kg. SPESSO6415 was consistently near the bottom, between 71.43 and 83.72 mg/kg). Although processing tomato production in North Carolina is possible, production practices need to be tailored in order to tomato maximize yield and quality.