This article addresses the issue of whether the tomato agroindustry (TAI) has been an effective instrument in the reduction of rural poverty. The TAI is by far the most important agroindustry in Mexico in terms of exports and employment creation. Most of the laborers employed by the TAI in northwest Mexico are temporary migrants coming from poverty-stricken regions in southern Mexico. Condition...

‘Big Beef’ tomatoes produced 2.68 kg/plant from a 72 day harvest period when they were grown in 0.35 liter aluminum beverage cans by a sub-irrigation hydroponic method. Tomatoes growing in net pots (70 ml) suspended by expanded polystyrene bead boards with a sub-irrigation method gave similar yields in one trial but lower yields in another trial than tomatoes growing in beverage cans. Tomatoes ...

The objective of this study was to evaluate the use of hyperspectral near-infrared (NIR) reflectance imaging techniques for detecting cuticle cracks on tomatoes. A hyperspectral NIR reflectance imaging system that analyzed the spectral region of 1000-1700 nm was used to obtain hyperspectral reflectance images of 224 tomatoes: 112 with and 112 without cracks along the stem-scar region. The hyper...

Consumption of tomato products has been associated with decreased risk of some cancer types, and the tomato antioxidant, lycopene, is thought to play an important role in the observed health effects. In this study, four carotenoids, trans-lycopene, phytofluene, phytoene, and zeta-carotene, were quantified in tomato products. Samples of raw tomatoes, tomato juice after hot break scalder, and fin...

Lipoxygenases (LOXs) play important role in the synthesis of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which influence the aroma of fruit. In this study, we elucidate that there is a positive relationship between LOXs activity and VOC production in melon (Cucumis melo), and CmLOX genes are involved in fruit aroma generation in melon. To this end, we tested four aroma types of melon that feature a thin...

Five cultivars of honeydew and speciality type melons were evaluated in 2001. Performance from all cultivars was less than optimum. Foliage diseases and fruit cracking and rotting resulted in an extremely large percentage of the fruits having to be graded as culls. This also resulted in smaller fruits than desired. ‘Passport’, an early maturing, speciality type melon has characteristics that me...