![]() ![]() Noteworthy is the effect of different agronomic practices (e.g., fertilization, irrigation, etc.) on the accumulation of these health-related compounds in tomato fruits. Moreover, vitamin C was also found to be important to make iron (Fe) more available for absorption in the human diet. Lycopene and vitamin C have been extensively studied as two key antioxidant compounds in tomato, confirming their protection against numerous health-related disorders, such as cancers and heart diseases, as deeply reviewed by Collins. ![]() Tomato, and its industrial products, have been recognized as important sources of antioxidant compounds, such as ascorbic acid (AsA, 40.7 mg per serving, 37% of PRI for adults), carotenoids (almost totally represented by lycopene: 1.4–40 mg per serving ), and polyphenols (among which naringenin chalcone stands out: 1.8–36.4 mg per serving ). Among vegetables, tomato is one of the richest in potassium (K), phosphorus (P), selenium (Se), magnesium (Mg), and calcium (Ca): on average, one serving of fresh tomato (200 g) contains 517 mg of K (15% of Adequate Intake-(AI)-for adults), 48.5 mg of P (8.8% of AI for adults), 24.4 mg of Ca (2.5% of Population Reference Intake-(PRI)-for adults), and 21.5 mg of Mg (4% of AI for adults). The latter is made up of sugars (48%: fructose 25%, glucose 22% and sucrose 1%), structural materials (17%), organic acids (13%: 9% citric acid, 4% malic acid), protein, lipids and dicarboxylic amino acids (12%), minerals (8%), and other substances (2%), as reported by Davies and Hobson. Tomato is mainly composed of water (92.5–95.0%), while the remaining part is represented by dry matter. In the Italian context, Southern Italy embodies the leading area of production and the Campania region contributed a cultivated surface of almost 4000 hectares, a total production of 246,000 tons in 2019. On average, Italy produces between 70 t ha −1, more than 110 t ha −1 of processed tomato, and is the greatest exporting country of processed tomatoes worldwide: numbers have continuously grown since 1961, reaching a peak of 61 million tons of canned products in 2019 (peeled tomatoes mainly, plus paste and juice). Among European countries, Italy is the first producer of processed tomatoes and ensures a sixth of the global yield (6 million tons in 2021). In this context, processing tomatoes represents almost 21% of total tomato production with over 38.7 million tons mostly used for paste, peeled, and tomato juice. Tomato ( Solanum lycopersicum L.) is the most productive vegetable crop worldwide, reaching a yield of almost 187 million tons and an area of 5 million hectares. Our results show that, in the investigated area, 200 kg N ha −1 is the best compromise to satisfy farmers and processors expectations, improve yield, and at the same time maintain good fruit quality attributes. On the other hand, N fertilization negatively affected other fruit traits, such as dry matter and soluble solids content, total sugar index, ascorbic acid, and sodium content, while it had no effect on potassium and magnesium concentration in tomato fruits. Results showed that N fertilization reduced sunburned fruits and resulted in increasing total yield, average fruit weight, as well as other fruit parameters (size, firmness, color indexes, pH, N, and calcium content). The study was carried out at Battipaglia (Southern Italy) cropping cultivar “Messapico”, suitable for peeled tomato, and fruit quality was evaluated at the ripening stage. The aim of this work was to study the effects of increasing mineral N fertilization rates on processing tomato yield and quality when grown in Southern Italy conditions. However, N fertilizers greatly affect the overall tomato quality, including technological traits, nutritional characteristics, and mineral fruit composition. ![]() Nitrogen (N) fertilization has often been used in excess by farmers to improve commercial yield and the profitability of processing tomato crops. ![]()
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