ABSTRACT
Color changes dramatically as most tomatoes mature and ripen. These color changes have been segregated and standardized into several discrete stages for traditional red tomato varieties. Color has long been an important characteristic of the tomato. Tomatoes are harvested at different colors and maturation stages depending on the end use of the tomato, whether for fresh consumption or processed products. Traditional techniques for measuring color using spectrophotometers or colorimeters are one dimensional and often destructive, thus making them ill suited for widespread measurements of tomatoes on the vine. Red tomatoes reflect primarily red light, while mature green tomatoes reflect both red and green light, thus giving the appearance of being light green. Spectrophotometers and colorimeters use mature technologies and provide an accurate means to measure tomato color and properties such as firmness, soluble solid content, and chlorophyll that are strongly correlated to color.
