TOMATOES USED BY INDUSTRIES HAVE TECHNOLOGICAL QUALITY FOR FRESH CONSUMPTION1

ABSTRACT The production of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) for fresh consumption must overcome a challenge: the high production cost. The use of cultivars with determinate growth habit is an alternative to reduce costs. Thus, the objective this work was to evaluate the acceptability of tomato fruits from cultivars with determinate growth habit for fresh consumption. Seeds of 10 hybrids and one variety were grown in open field, arranged in six randomized block design, and tested for sensorial acceptability. The analyses were carried out using 50 not-trained consumers, considering their visual and sensorial preferences by affective methods and purchase intention. The hybrid Thaise grown with and without staking and the hybrid Gabrielle grown with staking had higher visual preference by the consumers, with frequency of 24%, 18%, and 22%, respectively, in the first position; and the hybrid Dominador showed higher frequency (18%) in the second and third positions; these hybrids had purchase intention above 80%. All hybrids and varieties had significant difference in the mean test at p<0.05. The highest means found for Carrara, HM7885, Santa Cruz Kada, Asti, N901, Dominador, and Equatorial (appearance); Asti and N901 (color), Asti, Dominador, and Equatorial (aroma), and Santa Cruz Kada, Asti, Dominador, and Equatorial (flavor). Asti, Gabrielle (grown without staking), HM7885, and Equatorial had purchase intention above of 50%. The hybrids Ap533, Portinari, and Thaise grown without staking showed acceptability index lower than 70%. Plants with determinate growth habit produce fruits with acceptable visual and sensorial qualities for fresh consumption.