International

Cooperators’

AVRDC Guide October 2001

AVRDC pub # 01-528

Seed Production of
Open-Pollinated Tomato Lines
R.T. Opeña, J.T. Chen, T. Kalb and P. Hanson

Introduction
Tomato is a very popular vegetable in the tropics.
Open-pollinated (non-hybrid) tomato seed is easy
to produce. Isolation of plants is usually not
needed and each plant can produce thousands of
seeds. This publication shows how to produce
seeds from open-pollinated lines and varieties.

Crop Management
Climate Figure 1. Producing open-pollinated tomato seed is
easy. Isolation of plants is usually not needed and
Ideal growing conditions are needed to produce a single plant can produce thousands of seeds.
high quality seed. Tomatoes grow best in the dry
season under day temperatures of 21-25°C and
night temperatures of 15-20°C. Vines will white potato); this prevents the build-up of
struggle to set fruit if temperatures exceed 30°C. diseases and insects. Growing tomato after
paddy rice reduces the incidence of diseases and
Humidity is an important factor. Humidity levels nematodes. Optimum soil pH is 6.0 to 7.0.
higher than 60% at the time of fruit maturity will
increase disease problems and reduce seed
yields. Seed production during the rainy season
generally leads to low yields and poor seed quality. Hybrid Seed Production

These procedures cannot be used to pro-

Field Requirements duce seeds from hybrid plants. Seeds saved
Select a sunny spot to promote maximum pro- from F1 hybrids will produce plants that are
duction of flowers and fruit. Avoid fields where inferior and not uniform. Special techniques,
the previous crop was tomato; this prevents the not described in this guide, must be used to
new seed crop from being contaminated with produce F1 hybrid seed. See AVRDC
seeds from volunteer tomato plants. Avoid fields International Cooperators' Guide, Hybrid
where the previous crop was sweet potato or a Seed Production in Tomato.
solanaceous crop (tomato, pepper, eggplant or

Asian Vegetable Research and Development Center; P.O. Box 42, Shanhua; Taiwan 741; ROC
tel: (886-6) 583-7801 fax: (886-6) 583-0009 email: avrdcbox@[Link] www: [Link]
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Cultural Practices Harvesting
Healthy plants produce healthy seeds. Pests Keep the fruits on the vine until they are fully
should be controlled. Nutrient and water man- mature, preferably to the pink or red ripe stage.
agement should be optimal to achieve good fruit This enables the seed to develop normally and
and seed yield. Staking is generally recom- fully. If fruits are harvested at an earlier stage,
mended. For more information on growing place them in a covered,
tomato, see AVRDC International Cooperators’ cool dry place for three or
Guide, Suggested Cultural Practices for Tomato. four days until they become
red ripe.
Isolation Collect fruits in nonmetallic
Nearly all tomato lines, containers, such as nylon
including today's net bags, plastic buckets, or
modern varieties, are crates (Figure 3). Metal
self-pollinating. The containers may react with
male anthers shed acids in the tomato juice and
pollen onto only the affect seed viability. Hence, Figure 3.
female style within the they should not be used. Harvesting
Figure 2. Typical
same flower. The style
tomato flower
does not protrude
outside the flower Seed Extraction
(Figure 2). Due to the structure of the flower and
its mechanism of pollination, isolation of differ-
ent lines is usually not necessary.
Option 1: Manual Extraction
Harvest the ripe fruits and keep them in nylon
There are exceptions. Currant tomatoes bags (Figure 4). Crush the fruits by trampling
(Lycopersicon pimpinellifolium) and potato-leaf with feet (Figure 5).
types of L. esculentum generally have styles that
protrude outside their flower. These lines are Put the bags of crushed fruits into big plastic
more attractive to insects, and thus, more likely to containers and ferment to separate the gel mass
be cross-pollinated. Check each line's styles at embedding the seeds. To hasten the fermenta-
the first sign of flowering. Netting or caging to tion process, put weights over the bags or keep
exclude pollinating insects is required if lines with the fruits submerged in the liquid fruit mass
protruding styles are used. Also, do not collect (Figure 6).
seeds of double fruits since double flowers are
more prone to insect pollination. The time of fermentation depends upon the
ambient room temperature. If temperature is
above 25°C, one day of fermentation may be
Removing Off-Types sufficient. If cooler, two days of fermentation may
The lines should be as pure as possible. Know be needed. Fermentation for more than three
the plant habit, leaf type, immature fruit charac- days may spoil the seeds' quality.
ters (e.g. shape, size, and shoulder coloring) of
each line. Regularly inspect the plants. Remove Put the seeds in an open plastic container. Then,
any off-type (usually inferior) or virus-infected fill up the container with water and stir the seeds
plants immediately. Symptoms of viruses include to allow the pieces of flesh and skin sticking on
yellow mottling of leaves; severe curling or other the seeds to float.
distortion of foliage; and stunting of plants.
Incline the container and gently remove the
floating refuse, making sure that the seeds
Fruit Production remain at the bottom (Figures 7 and 8). Repeat
The number of fruits produced per plant depends the washing several times, adding fresh water to
on the size of the fruit. Maintain about 30 fruits per the container every time until all the flesh and gel
plant for lines which produce large-sized fruit, 40 for are completely removed, leaving clean seeds at
medium-sized fruit, and 50+ for small-sized fruit. the bottom (Figure 9).

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Figures 4-9. Tomatoes are harvested in bags, which are stepped on, and then fermented. Seeds are
cleaned by careful removal of floating pieces of flesh and skin.

Option 2: Mechanical Extraction

Mechanical seed extraction is used by large-scale Instead of fermentation, treat the seed-gel mass
operations. Put the ripe fruits into the mechanical with 0.7% hydrochloric acid (HCl) at a rate of
seed extractor for crushing and separation of the seven milliliters of HCl per kilogram of seed-gel
seeds and gel from the pulp (Figure 10). Gather mass (Figure 12). Stir the seed-gel mass while
the seeds and gel mass in a suitable container the acid is being added. Continue stirring for 40
such as plastic tub or bucket (Figure 11). minutes until the gel is softened or dissolved. Do

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Figures 10-14. A machine extracts the seeds from fruits. Seeds are then treated with hydrochloric acid
to loosen their gelatinous coating, and then cleaned using water.

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not use a higher concentration of acid nor a longer Stir the seeds two to three times daily so that
treatment time otherwise you will injure the seeds. seeds dry uniformly. Loosen any seeds that
clump together. These procedures will get the
When the seed is separated from the gel, pour seeds to the desired 6-8% moisture content.
the acid-treated seeds into a clean fine-mesh bag.
Wash the bag with tap water thoroughly so that no
acid is left on the seeds’ surface (Figure 13).
While washing, step on the bag to squeeze out
Seed Storage
the remaining gel. Tomato seeds can be safely stored for at least
three to five years. Place seeds in manila
Place the seeds into an open plastic container, envelopes, cloth or mesh bags, plastic contain-
filling it to one-third capacity. Then, fill the con- ers, or foil envelopes. The best containers are
tainer with tap water. Stir the seeds to enable the airtight, such as a sealed glass jar, metal can, or
small pieces of flesh and skin to float. Incline the foil envelope.
container and remove the floating debris (Figure
14). Make sure the seeds remain at the bottom of Label each container carefully. Note the names
the container. of the line or variety, the year, and any other
information you feel is valuable.
Repeat the washing procedure several times until
all the debris is gone and the seeds are clean. Store seeds in a cool, dry place. Small quantities
can be kept in an airtight container inside a
refrigerator. For larger quantities, a special room
Seed Drying with controlled humidity and temperature should
be used. If possible, the temperatures should not
Placed the washed seeds in bags. Excess water exceed 20°C and relative humidity (RH) in the
can be removed by hanging the seeds in the shade storage area should not exceed 30%.
for a day. An even quicker way to remove water is
to place the seeds in a spin dryer (Figure 15).

After the excess water is removed, uniformly More Information

spread the partially dried seeds in a flat plastic For more information on this topic, contact Dr.
container or aluminum pan. Loosen any clumps Peter Hanson at <hansp@[Link]>.
of seeds (Figure 16). Enclose this container with
its seeds into a net nylon bag. Several International Cooperators' Guides and
other publications have been written on topics
Place the container into an air drier (Figure 17). related to tomato cultivation and vegetable seed
Drying continues for three to four days, maintain- production (including hybrid tomato seed produc-
ing a temperature of 28-30°C. Higher tempera- tion). This information is available at the AVRDC
tures at the time of drying may cause seeds to web site, <[Link]
germinate.

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Figures 15-17. Seeds are spun-dried, spread and loosened in a flat container, then rebagged and
placed into an air drier.