Can Microbial Consortium Applications Affect Yield and Quality of Conventionally Managed Processing Tomato?

Area of Science:

• Agricultural Science
• Plant Science
• Microbiology

Background:

• Commercial microbial biostimulants containing fungi and bacteria are increasingly used in agriculture.
• Processing tomato crops are a significant agricultural commodity, with quality influenced by cultivation practices and environmental factors.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the impact of microbial biostimulants on processing tomato yield, technological traits, and fruit quality.
• To assess the influence of growing season and microbial treatments on tomato fruit composition.

Main Methods:

• A two-year field experiment was conducted in southern Italy using three commercial microbial biostimulants.
• Effects on yield, technological components (dry matter, acidity, soluble solids), and functional quality (sugars, lycopene, metabolites) were analyzed.
• Statistical analysis was performed to determine the significance of growing season and treatment effects.

Main Results:

• The growing season significantly affected tomato yield and technological components, with 2020 showing lower fruit weight and higher defective fruit percentage.
• Microbial treatments, particularly FID-consortium, significantly increased protein and amino acid content (including essential and branched-chain amino acids) in tomato fruits.
• FID-consortium application led to substantial increases in proteins (+53.71%) and total amino acids (+33.55%) compared to the control group.

Conclusions:

• Microbial inoculants, specifically FID-consortium, can enhance the nutritional profile of processing tomatoes by boosting primary metabolites like proteins and amino acids.
• Environmental conditions (growing season) play a crucial role in tomato yield and quality, independent of microbial treatments.
• The study highlights the potential of targeted microbial applications to improve the functional quality of processing tomatoes under specific environmental conditions.