Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) is the second most important world consumable vegetable after potatoes, ranks first among the processing crops [1] and belongs to the Solanaceae family [2] . It is one of the most important vegetables in Bangladesh. Its demand is increasing day by day in our country. However, its national average yield is 15.17 t/ha, which is very low compared to other tomato-growing countries due to a lack of high-yielding tomato varieties. They are nutritious and contain vitamins A, B, and C, iron, and phosphorus [3] . They also contain antioxidants like carotenes, ascorbic acid, and phenolic compounds which help to prevent some diseases [4] . As it is a relatively short-duration crop and gives a high yield, it is economically attractive and the area under cultivation is increasing daily. Moreover, tomatoes contribute to a healthy, well-balanced diet and are rich in minerals, essential amino acids, sugars, and dietary fibers. Tomato fruits are consumed fresh in salads or cooked in sauces, soup, and meat or fish dishes [5] . It is rich in a plethora of natural antioxidants and bioactive compounds. The regular ingestion of an adequate amount of fresh tomatoes or processed tomato products has been inversely correlated with the development of widespread human diseases [6] .

This protective effect has been mainly attributed to the carotenoid constituents of the fruits, particularly lycopene and beta-carotene, which act as antioxidants in detoxifying free radicals [7] .

It is reported that both fresh and processed tomatoes constitute significant amounts of the produced vegetable crops. In addition to the large production values, the tomato is an important source of antioxidant intake. The essential phytonutrients found in the tomato fruit are lycopene, β-carotene, α-tocopherol, polyphenols, and ascorbic acid, and antioxidant activity depends on the cultivar, environmental parameters, and method of production and processing. The ripe tomatoes have important outside quality characteristics: uniform size, red colour, and good aroma and texture, but these external qualities do not reflect perfectly the nutritional content.

Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI) has developed a good number of tomato varieties. Since farmers’ and consumers’ preferences have diverged, more tomato varieties need to be developed. Germplasm collection and evaluation is the first and continuous process to develop a new tomato variety. As part of this activity, BARI has collected some tomato germplasm from Plant Genetic Resources Center (PGRC) of BARI, The Netherlands, Japan and local sources. Therefore, the study was undertaken to evaluate the performance of the collected 36 tomato germplasm for selecting superior breeding materials.

Significant differences were observed among the 39 tomato germplasm/varieties of tomato. The results of the experiment for different characters are presented in Table 1 . Days to first harvest varied ranged from 95 to 109 days. It indicated earliness was observed among the tomato germplasm. The number of flower clusters per plant and number of fruits per cluster also varied among the germplasm which were 11 to 22 and 3.2 to 26, respectively. The number of fruit per plant and single fruit weight were varied from 15 to 510 and 6.6 to 180 g. The variation in the number of fruits per plant may be due to genetic differences among the germplasm since they were grown under the same environmental conditions. The finding is in agreement with Alam et al., 2010; Biswas et al., 2016; and Gautam et al., 2018. Ahmad also found the range of single fruit weight to be from 5.25 g to 43.38 g among 25 heat-tolerant germplasm, which supports the findings of the present study [9] . The studies corroborate the findings of Agarwal et al. [10] , Marbhal et al. [11] , and Solieman et al. [12] ( Tables 1 - 3 ).

St. dev. = Standard Deviation; SE = Standard Error.

The single fruit weight is important to evaluate the tomato germplasm, there was significant variation was observed among the germplasm. The range of the germplasm for single fruit weight was 6.6 - 180. The higher fruit weight germplasm were NL-8 (180.0g), BD 7754 (145.5g), BARI Tomato-2 (136.4g), SLA-33 (122.2g), BD 9776 (110.0g). The fruit yield per plant varied from 1.3 to 4.8 kg, while the higher yielder germplasms were BD 7759B (4.8 kg), BD 7757 (4.3 kg), BD 7751 (4.1 kg), BD 7301 (4.0kg), QM (4.0 kg), BD 7759A (3.9 kg), BD 7762 (3.9 kg), QF (3.9 kg). A higher fruit yield per plant in some germplasm may be due to the production of a higher number of fruits with a greater single fruit weight. The development of fruit size depends on several factors such as the leaf-fruit ratio, genetic and climatic factors, position in the plant and the branch, plant age, number of seeds, and water and nutrient supply [13] . The fruit length, fruit diameter and pericarp thickness also varied among the germplasm according to the size of the fruit, which was 2.7 to 6.1 cm, 2.3 to 7.6 cm and 0.2 to 0.9 cm, respectively.

St. dev. = Standard Deviation; SE = Standard Error.

The range of fruit yield per hectare was 39 to 144 tons, while the highest fruit yield per hectare was harvested from the germplasm viz., BD 7759B, BD 7757, BD 7751, BD 7301, QM, BD 7759A, BD 7762, QF, BD 7753, BD 8886, BD 10351, NL-1A, SLA-19 ( Figure 2 ).

The pericarp thickness, number of locules, total soluble solids (TSS) and plant height at last harvest varied from 0.2 to 0.9 cm, 2 to 6.6, 2.6 to 5.9%, and 66 to 154 cm, respectively.

St. dev. = Standard Deviation; SE = Standard Error

The TYLCV infection (%) and leaf-sucking pest infestation (%) were observed with a 1 to 20% range in the field condition in both cases. So, we can select that germplasm having zero per cent infestation ( Figure 3 ).

Enhancing yield is the ultimate aim of this research program, which is connected to other plant features and biotic and abiotic challenges either directly or indirectly. There was a lot of variation found in 39 tomato varietals and germplasm. Significant variation was observed in the fruit yield per plant and fruit yield per hectare varied from 1.3 to 4.8 kg and 39 to 144 tons, while the highest fruit yield per hectare was harvested from the germplasm viz., BD 7759B, BD 7757, BD 7751, BD 7301, QM, BD 7759A, BD 7762, QF, BD 7753, BD 8886, BD 10351, NL-1A, SLA-19. The number of locules, total soluble solids (TSS) and plant height at last harvest varied from 2 to 6.6, 2.6 to 5.9%, and 66 to 154 cm, respectively. The TYLCV infection (%) and leaf-sucking pest infestation (%) were observed with a 1 to 20% range in the field condition in both cases. Considering the plant growth habit, earliness, different horticultural traits, virus and pest infestation thirteen germplasm viz., BD 7759B, BD 7757, BD 7751, BD 7301, QM, BD 7759A, BD 7762, QF, BD 7753, BD 8886, BD 10351, NL-1A, SLA-19 were selected as breeding materials for further tomato improvement program.

This study was completed with the financial support of AFACI under the project “Development of vegetable varieties in Asia Region”.