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Tomatoes are an important source of benefcial phytochemicals, which act as antioxidants. These include ascorbic acid, phenolic compounds, carotenoids, and tocopherols. The concentration of anti-oxidants is infuenced, among others, by abiotic stress factors like nutritional status. Potassium (K) is a macronutrient, which is essential for several physiological functions in plants -- for example, translocation of assimilates, activation of enzymes, maintenance of turgescence, and stomata regulation. This study aims to investigate the effect of increasing K fertilization on the concentration of anti-oxidants in cocktail tomatoes. Therefore, two tomato cultivars (Primavera and Resi) grown in an outdoor pot experiment were ferti- lized with increasing K doses for two consecutive years. It has been confrmed that antioxidants in tomato fruit can be affected by the K regime, but it is also shown that other factors may reduce or even reverse those effects when cultivation takes place in an uncontrolled outdoor environment. The most consistent K fertilization effects were found for naringenin, p-coumaric acid, and caffeic acid. However, the enrichment of tomatoes with antioxidants by K fertilization is cultivarependent and therefore general statements should be avoided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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