Impact of Drought on Chlorophyll, Soluble Protein, Abscisic Acid, Yield and Quality Characters of Contrasting Genotypes of Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum)

Impact of drought stress on chlorophyll, chlorophyll fluorescence (Fv/Fm), chlorophyll stability index (CSI), soluble protein, abscisic acid (ABA), yield and quality of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) genotypes was investigated for the assessment of drought tolerance under field conditions in rainout shelter. The drought condition was created first day from transplanting based on Irrigation water (IW):Cumulative Pan Evaporation (CPE) of soil. Experiment was laid out with 10 genotypes by adopting FRBD with three replications and two treatments of 1 IW:CPE and 0.5 IW:CPE. The result revealed that the reductions in chlorophyll content, Fv/Fm, chlorophyll stability index (CSI), soluble protein and yield were noticed at drought condition (0.5 IW/CPE). The genotypes LE 114, LE 57, and LE 118 which showed significantly less reduction in the above parameters during drought were considered as drought tolerant. ABA content and quality characters such as total soluble solids (TSS), lycopene content were increased under drought condition. Genotypes LE 1 and LE 125 which recorded the lowest chlorophyll content, Fv/Fm, CSI, soluble protein and higher ABA content ultimately poor yield were considered as drought susceptible.