Abstract:
Regina tomato, a locally cultivated Italian landrace, is listed as an item in the ‘List of
Traditional Agri-Food Products’ of the Italian Department for Agriculture and itemised as ‘Slow
Food presidium’ by the Slow Food Foundation. It is classified as a long-storage tomato since it can be
preserved for several months after harvest thanks to its thick and coriaceous skin. Three ecotypes
were investigated for main physical and chemical traits both at harvest and after three months of
storage. Experimental results indicate that this tomato landrace has a qualitative profile characterized
by high concentrations of tocopherols, lycopene and ascorbic acid (maximum 28.6 and 53.7 mg/kg
fresh weight, FW, and 0.28 mg/g FW, respectively) even after a long storage time, together with
lower average Total Soluble Solids. The initial and post-storage contents of the bioactive compounds
changed at a different rate in each ecotype (i.e., in Monopoli Regina tomato the highest content of
α-Tocopherol, thereafter reduced to the same level of the other two ecotypes). These results indicate
unique and unmistakable features of this long-storage tomato, closely linked to the geographic
origin area that include both natural (available technical inputs) and human (specific cultural
practices) factors.
