# Aromatic Profile of Hydroponically and Conventionally Grown Tomatoes
## 3 Results and Discussion
### Sensory Analysis Carried Out by the Evaluators
The graphical distribution of samples V512 (CZ) and V826 (IT) tells us that these samples had a wide odor spectrum. Figure 4: Sensory analysis of tomato fruit odor. Figure 5: Sensory analysis of the smell of fruit on the cut. The human perception of tomato flavor lies in the integration of taste and aroma. Tomato aroma is a balance of acid and sugar recognized by the tongue and the effect of volatile compounds in the fruit that cause the aroma is recognized by the nose, therefore, we considered important the results obtained by sensory evaluation of tomato flavor, which are graphically represented in the form of Figure 6. For the flavor attribute, the sample V153 (CZ) stood out as more intense. This sample received, on average, the highest possible score and it is the sample that represents hydroponically grown tomatoes. Compared to this sample, samples V188 (NL), V512 (CZ), and V931 (SR) were rated as less intensive. These samples represent the tomatoes of both groups. The sample that was rated lowest by the sensory panel and rated as less suitable for this attribute was sample V269 (SR). The other samples were at the level of average taste acceptable by consumers. The results obtained by the scoring test were subjected to PCA analysis and Figure 7 was constructed. The first part of Figure 7a shows the distribution of the samples within the summary scores of all the attributes evaluated, namely: appearance, smell, smell of the fruit on the cut, texture, taste, and overall impression. Based on the data obtained from the sensory analysis, we can rank samples V269 (SR) and V297 (BE), as well as samples V102 (NL) and V826 (IT) as statistically significantly similar. The remaining evaluated samples scored similarly, meaning that these samples show similar sensory characteristics. Based on the samples' position within the graph, we can conclude that the sensory evaluators were also able to detect differences between hydroponic and conventional tomatoes. This means that also through the panelists' evaluation with the simple scoring test and subsequent PCA analysis, it is possible to show differences between tomatoes grown in two different ways. Other authors have compared hydroponically and conventionally grown crops from sensory point of view. For example, in one study, the authors compared hydroponically and conventionally grown strawberries. The study found that consumers did not have strong preference between hydroponic and soil-grown strawberries, but indicated that of the 13 attributes examined, overall aroma and aroma intensity were the only attributes that reached statistical significance (\(p<0.05\)). Hydroponically grown strawberries showed higher mean ratings for these two categories. Consequently, they reported that due to the environmental benefits of hydroponic production combined with the favorable ratings of descriptive sensory analysis, it may be desirable for the consumer and beneficial for the environment to grow strawberry varieties in infertile areas to provide fresh fruit [20]. In 2011, a study was conducted to compare hydroponically, conventionally, and organically grown lettuce. A significant difference was found between either hydroponically and conventionally grown lettuce (\(p=0.03\)) or between organically and conventionally grown lettuce (\(p=0.009\)), but not between hydroponically and organically grown lettuce (\(p=0.6956\)). In the opinion of the sensory panel, hydroponically and organically grown lettuce had more intense smell (odor) [31]. Similarly, in our study, consumers rated hydroponically grown  
Figure 6: Sensory analysis of the flavor of the fruit. tomatoes with the highest scores, meaning that they demonstrated a more intense odor. These results were confirmed by e-nose. Within the second part of Figure 7b, the ellipses shown represent the variance of the values given in the sensory evaluation of each attribute. We can say that the samples V297 (BE) and V931 (SR) have the narrowest variance of the values obtained.