Cherry tomatoes are tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) cultivars which are highly popular among consumers and growers due to their pleasant taste, convenient size for consumption and wide range of colours and shapes. The aim of our experiment was to evaluate the physicochemical and sensory properties of fruits from 13 cherry tomato cultivars and to examine possible correlations among these properties. The experiment was conducted during the 2025 growing season in a greenhouse at the Department of Agronomy, Biotechnical Faculty of the University of Ljubljana. Fruits were sampled on two dates and analysed for fruit weight, shape index, firmness, colour parameters L*, a*, b*, C* and h°, total soluble solids and dry matter content; pH and titratable acidity were also determined at the second date. A sensory panel was also conducted at the second sampling date, in which 10 untrained assessors evaluated fruit taste, aroma, texture, appearance and colour. The data were analysed using analysis of variance (ANOVA), Tukey's test and Pearson's correlation analysis. Cultivar had a statistically significant effect on all analysed physical and chemical properties. The measured colour parameters generally corresponded to the visually described fruit colours. No statistically significant correlation was found between parameters C*, L*, h° and the sensory colour score (p > 0.05), nor between total soluble solids or titratable acidity and the taste score (p > 0.05). Fruit firmness was statistically significantly negatively correlated with the sensory texture score (r = -0.672; p = 0.012). The results of our experiment indicate that the sensory quality of the fruits cannot be explained by individual instrumentally measured parameters alone, but rather results from a combination of several fruit characteristics.
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