Application of Metabolomics to Improve Tomato Fruit Productivity and Quality

Abstract

Productivity and quality of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) fruit largely depend on the quantity and composition of its metabolites. Recent development of mass spectrometry technology has facilitated the simultaneous detection of a large number of metabolites. This opens the possibility of investigating the mechanisms of metabolic regulation that affect fruit productivity and quality, in conjunction with genetic and omics approaches. In this article, we review recent progress in the analysis of tomato fruit metabolites based on comprehensive metabolic profiling and the identification of genes and quantitative trait loci that alter tomato fruit metabolite profiles.