Ever wonder why the tomatoes grown in your garden significantly tastes better than those bought at the supermarket?Scientists say that this is caused by the very genetic makeup of tomatoes which apparently affects its flavor.
Supermarket or store bought tomatoes do not just taste bland, but they are also bred and altered genetically that their natural flavor chemicals are virtually gone. Now, a team from the University of Florida are now working to bring back this genuine, natural tomato flavor and incorporate them back into the commercial variety.
Since the 1940s farmers began to breed their tomatoes to look red and juicy, hence more appealing in supermarket displays. This genetic mutation makes tomatoes redder than usual, but there is a price to pay when it comes to flavor. Specifically, the sugars significantly reduce, and this affects the overall flavor of the tomato despite it looking ripe.
According to the lead author of the study, Harry Klee of the University of Florida, the goal is to fix the genes damaged over the last 70 years or so taste-wise so that supermarket tomato can become better than ever.
The researchers determined which alleles controlled the chemicals associated with the tomato's flavor and separated desirable and undesirable genes. They also found out that commercial tomatoes have significantly fewer taste chemical alleles than heirloom tomatoes.
Klee said that the team wanted to identify why modern tomato varieties have fewer flavor chemicals. They found out that it is caused by the loss of desirable alleles in certain genes.
The researchers were able to successfully replace these alleles with more flavorful alleles, and hopefully, farmers and suppliers can breed these back into tomatoes over three to four years.
This new study was published in the journal Science.