*3.3. Fruit Composition and Quality Parameters*

Fresh and dry weights of harvested fruit were determined. Titratable acidity was measured on 10 mL of tomato juice with an automatic titrator, using sodium hydroxide (0.1 M NaOH) as the titling and phenophthalein as the indicator. The result was expressed in g of citric acid per 100 mL of juice. Soluble solid content, expressed in ◦Brix, was investigated using a digital refractometer (model 53011, Turoni, Forlì, Italy). Maturation and taste indexes were calculated using Navez et al.'s [32] formula, on the basis of ◦Brix, and titratable acidity as proposed by Hernandez Suarez et al. [39]:

$$\text{Maturity Index} = \text{\textquotedbl{}Brix acidity} \tag{1}$$

$$\text{Taste Index} = \text{(\text{\textdegree Price}/20 \times acidity)} + \text{activity} \tag{2}$$

We also tried to detect the possible effect of Se dosage and time of treatment on the incidence of blossom-end rot. The percentage of fruit affected by blossom-end rot was evaluated by calculating the percentage of fruit that showed the symptoms on the total of fruit present at each flowering stage. Percentage data were then transformed into angular values before statistical analysis.
