Characterization and Quantification of Phenolic Compounds in Four Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum L.) Farmers' Varieties in Northeastern Portugal Homegardens
Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum L.) is one of
the most widely consumed fresh and processed vegetables
in the world, and contains bioactive key components. Phenolic
compounds are one of those components and, according
to the present study, farmers’ varieties of tomato
cultivated in homegardens from the northeastern Portuguese
region are a source of phenolic compounds, mainly phenolic
acid derivatives. Using HPLC-DAD-ESI/MS, it was concluded
that a cis p-coumaric acid derivative was the most
abundant compound in yellow (Amarelo) and round
(Batateiro) tomato varieties, while 4-O-caffeolyquinic acid
was the most abundant in long (Comprido) and heart (Coração)
varieties. The most abundant flavonoid was quercetin
pentosylrutinoside in the four tomato varieties. Yellow tomato
presented the highest levels of phenolic compounds
(54.23 μg/g fw), including phenolic acids (43.30 μg/g fw)
and flavonoids (10.93 μg/g fw). The phenolic compounds
profile obtained for the studied varieties is different from
other tomato varieties available in different countries, which
is certainly related to genetic features, cultivation conditions,
and handling and storage methods associated to each
sample.
