The presence of organic products in the aisles of big supermarket chains indicates a market potential for these products. However, there is little technical and scientific information. Thus, the objective of this work was to determine the quality of tomatoes grown under conventional (CS) and organic (OS) systems, on sale in the metropolitan area of Curitiba, Brazil. Samples were evaluated in terms of mass, specific weight, ash, total solids, total soluble solids, total titratable acidity, total soluble solids/total titratable acidity ratio, pH, vitamin C, nitrates, nitrites, multiresidues. There were no significant differences between conventional and organic tomatoes, except in a 5 per cent difference in humidity, according to the Tukey test. Regarding the toxicological analyses, multiresidues and benzimidazole were not detected up to the limit of 0.04 mg.kg-1 and likewise carbendazim up to 0.1 mg.kg-1. Pesticide residues belonging to the dithiocarbamate chemical group were identified at levels of 0.01 mg.kg-1 in two samples of conventionally cultivated tomatoes. These levels are below the recommended upper limit for mancozebe fungicide (2.0 mg.kg-1 CS2).
tomato; Lycopersicon esculentum Mill; physicochemical analysis; toxicological analysis; organic food
