ABSTRACT
Although the US Supreme Court ruled in its decision in Nix v. Hedden (149 U.S. 304, 1893) that for trade purposes, tomato should be classified as a vegetable, botanically it is a fruit that was recently renamed Solanum lycopersicum (L.) after long being identified as Lycopericum esculentum (Mill.). Tomatoes of many genetic (open pollinated, hybrid or transgenic), growth-habit (determinate, indeterminate or compact), fruit-shape (round, oblong, saladette, grape, cluster or ribbed) and fruit colour (red, yellow, orange, green, purple or brown) types are produced worldwide in open fields, greenhouses, conventional or organic systems. Tomato cultivation includes variety selection, fertilization and irrigation
management (Freeman et al., 2016), pest and disease identification and control (Jones et al., 2014), harvesting and grading (USDA, 1997), and postharvest handling (Sargent et al., 2014). Today’s agricultural practices used for tomato production need to (1) fulfil the hydric and nutritional requirement of the crop for optimal production, (2) consider the environmental impact of production and (3) offer nutritious and safe tomato fruits to consumers.
