MORPHOLOGICAL AND GENETIC CHARACTERIZATION OF A LARGE COLLECTION OF ITALIAN TOMATO LANDRACES

Increased interest towards traditional tomato varieties is fuelled by the need to rescue desirable organoleptic traits and to improve the quality of fresh and processed tomatoes in the market. In addition, the phenotypic and genetic variation preserved in tomato landraces represents a means to understand the genetic basis of traits related to health and organoleptic aspects and to breed them in modern varieties. In the frame of Horizon 2020, the TRADITOM project "Traditional tomato varieties and cultural practices: a case for agricultural diversification with impact on food security and health of European population" (http://traditom.eu/) aims to the collection, characterization and valoris…