Solanaceous Fruits

Abstract

A fraction of the massive number of plant ovaries fertilized every year will produce physiologically altered fruits showing abnormal properties. Although losses caused by physiological disorders are normally limited, could in extreme cases be dramatic and result in important losses. Many physiological disorders have been described through the years especially in tomato fruit, which has been the species receiving by far the greatest attention. However, most of the described physiological alterations reported in the tomato are usually manifested in other Solanaceous members as well. Based on their symptomatology the most common physiological disorders could be grouped on in those i) disrupting normal growth and altering shape like catface, zippering and puffiness; ii) causing mechanical failure and compromising integrity such as cracking; iii) resulting in tissue collapse, pitting, browning and necrosis (blossom end rot, sunscald and chilling injury), and iv) affecting ripening or seed development (green shoulders, yellow shoulders, blotchy ripening, other surface discolorations, chilling injury, excessive seed number or hardening and bitterness). In this chapter, we summarize the symptoms, causes and control strategies of these physiological disorders, with emphasis on tomato and eggplant.