Growth Factors in Tomato Fruit 



703 



Table 3. Substances active on the Avena first internode 

 test obtained from methanol extracts of lyophilized, immature 

 tomatoes chromatographed on Whatman No. 3 MM paper in 

 80 per cent isopropanol redistilled over Zn and KOH. 



* It is not yet known if the growth-promoting substances are 

 actually EhrUch-positive. One can say only that their position 

 coincides with an area which reacts with Ehrlich's reagent. 



SUMMARY 



At the present time, the chemical identification of all the active 

 components of tomato juice is not yet completed. The work pre- 

 sented here, therefore, is more a progress report than the account of 

 a completed task. The wide range of biological effects exerted by to- 

 mato juice may well be due to different, unrelated constituents. In any 

 case, we have been able to separate an inhibitory principle which 

 can be split further into three categories: petroleum ether-soluble, 

 ether-soluble, and water-soluble compounds. In the growth-promoting 

 fraction of tomato juice, some compounds, such as chlorogenic acid 

 and derivatives, were found to act as auxin synergists on the first inter- 

 node and coleoptile sections of Avena. Other compounds promoted 

 the growth of Helianthus tuberosiis tuber tissues, but only when an 

 auxin was added simultaneously. Such results gain interest when one 

 considers that the tomato is one of the fruits which can be set easily 

 with applied auxins. It is conceivable that the applied auxins work 

 in conjunction with the synergists which are naturally present in the 

 ovary of this species. 



LITERATURE CITED 



1. Akkerman, A. M., and Veldstra, H. The chemical nature of Kockemann's 

 blastocholine from Lycopersicon esculeiitum Mill. Rec. Trav. Chim. Pays-Bas. 

 66: 411,412. 1947. 



2. Carangal, A. R., Jr., Alban, E. K., Varner, J. E., and Burrell, R. C. The in- 

 fluence of mineral nutrition on the organic acids of the tomato, Lycopersicum 

 esculentum. Plant Physiol. 29: 355-360. 1954. 



3. Demetriad^s, S., and Nitsch, J. P. Jus de tomate et croissance des tissus et 

 organes vegetaux. Action sur trois categories de tissus de vigne-vierge et de 

 scorsonere. Comparaison avec le lait de coco. Compt. Rend. Soc. Biol. 147: 

 1711-1713. 1953. 



