Water deficit effects on tomato quality depend on fruit developmental stage and genotype

Many studies have advocated that water deficit (WD) may exert beneficial effects on fruit quality. However, the fruit response to WD at specific developmental stages was seldom investigated, although different mechanisms could be involved at each stage and lead to different effects on final fruit quality. In the present study, a moderate WD (−60% of water supply compared to control) was applied during each of the three major phases of fruit development, namely cell division (CD), cell expansion (CE) and maturation (MT). Two cocktail tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) genotypes were studied, one producing poor quality fruits (LA1420), and the other one producing tasty fruits (PlovdivXXIVa named Plovdiv). Contrasted responses were observed between the two genotypes. For both of them, fruit fresh mass and size were not significantly reduced by WD, whatever the developmental phase affected. Osmotic regulations were likely involved in the CD treatment for LA1420 fruits, which accumulated more sugars (both on a dry and fresh matter basis) and less acids (on a dry matter basis). In the CE treatment, other adaptive strategies involving sugar metabolism and sub-cellular compartmentation were suggested. In contrast, the composition of Plovdiv fruits changed only under the MT treatment, with less sugars, acids and carotenoids compared to control fruits (both on a dry and fresh matter basis). Total ascorbic acid (AsA) was not significantly influenced by treatments in both genotypes. On their whole, results suggest that, depending on genotypes, fruits are sweeter and less acidic under WD, but that the nutritive value related to vitamin and carotenoid contents may be lessened. The sensitivity of each developmental phase highly depends on the genotype. All phases were sensitive to WD for LA1420, but only the ripening phase for Plovdiv. Interestingly, major changes in fruit composition were observed in LA1420 which presents poor fruit quality under control conditions. This suggests the onset of fast adaptive response to WD at the fruit level in this genotype.