The macronutrient potassium (K) has vital physiological functions in plants and its availability can strongly impact quality of crops like tomato. The impact of K nutrition on conventional tomato fruit quality parameters has been described several times, but detailed investigations on the effect of K supply on the fruit metabolite profile are still rare. To fill this gap, we investigated the influence of K fertilization on the metabolite profile of tomato fruits. For this purpose, an outdoor pot experiment with three different cocktail tomato cultivars was performed. A fertilization regimen with five K levels was applied, ranging from deficiency to sufficient supply. Fruit samples were analyzed by untargeted GC×GC-MS to cover the primary metabolite profile as well as some secondary metabolites. As verified using ICP-OES, fruit K content was highly proportional to the supplied amount of K. At the metabolite profile level, the most prominent and cultivar-independent effect of increased K fertilization was the rise of tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle intermediates. Further effects were more cultivar-specific, for example an increase of the mobile nitrogen pool (e.g. amines like putrescine and amides like asparagine), changes in the profile of minor sugars (especially disaccharides) as well as higher levels of some secondary metabolites. Pronounced response patterns were mainly observed in the cultivars Primavera and Yellow Submarine that were recently characterized as higher yielding, demanding a stronger consideration of cultivar differences in future studies.

大量营养素钾（K）在植物中具有重要的生理功能，其有效性会严重影响诸如番茄等农作物的质量。钾营养对常规番茄果实品质参数的影响已被描述过几次，但对钾供应对果实代谢产物谱的影响的详细研究仍然很少。为了填补这一空白，我们调查了钾肥对番茄果实代谢产物谱的影响。为此，进行了三种不同鸡尾酒番茄栽培品种的室外盆栽试验。施用了五个钾水平的受精方案，范围从缺乏到充足。通过非目标GC×GC-MS分析水果样品，以涵盖主要代谢物谱和一些次要代谢物。经ICP-OES验证，果实中的钾含量与钾的供应量成正比。在代谢产物水平上，增加钾肥的最显着且与品种无关的作用是三羧酸（TCA）循环中间体的增加。进一步的影响是更具品种特异性的，例如流动氮库的增加（例如胺（如腐胺）和酰胺（如天冬酰胺）），次要糖（尤其是二糖）的分布变化以及某些次级代谢产物的含量较高。明显的应答模式主要在Primavera和Yellow Submarine品种中观察到，这些品种最近被表征为高产，需要在未来的研究中更充分地考虑品种差异。增加钾肥的最显着且与品种无关的作用是三羧酸（TCA）循环中间体的增加。进一步的影响是更具品种特异性的，例如流动氮库的增加（例如胺（如腐胺）和酰胺（如天冬酰胺）），次要糖（尤其是二糖）的分布变化以及某些次级代谢产物的含量较高。明显的应答模式主要在Primavera和Yellow Submarine品种中观察到，这些品种最近被表征为高产，需要在未来的研究中更充分地考虑品种差异。增加钾肥的最突出且不依赖品种的效应是三羧酸（TCA）循环中间体的增加。进一步的影响是更具品种特异性的，例如流动氮库的增加（例如胺（如腐胺）和酰胺（如天冬酰胺）），次要糖（尤其是二糖）的分布变化以及某些次级代谢产物的含量较高。明显的应答模式主要在Primavera和Yellow Submarine品种中观察到，这些品种最近被表征为高产，需要在未来的研究中更充分地考虑品种差异。胺（如腐胺）和酰胺（如天冬酰胺），次要糖（尤其是二糖）的分布变化以及某些次级代谢产物的含量较高。明显的应答模式主要在Primavera和Yellow Submarine品种中观察到，这些品种最近被表征为高产，需要在未来的研究中更充分地考虑品种差异。胺（如腐胺）和酰胺（如天冬酰胺），次要糖（尤其是二糖）的分布变化以及某些次级代谢产物的含量较高。明显的应答模式主要在Primavera和Yellow Submarine品种中观察到，这些品种最近被表征为高产，需要在未来的研究中更充分地考虑品种差异。