Why Some Tomatoes Taste Better; August 2012; Scientific American Magazine; by Ferris Jabr; 1 Page(s)

The typical supermarket tomato is ripe-red, firm to the touch and free of blemishesas well as of flavor. Since at least the 1970s, U.S. consumers have lamented the beautiful but bland fruits that farmers breed not for taste but rather for high yield and durability during shipping. Recently organic farmers and foodies have championed the superior flavors of heirloom tomatoesolder varieties that come in an assortment of shapes, sizes and colors. In a study published in June in Current Biology, researchers took a close look at the chemical composition of both standard tomatoes and more than 100 different heirloom varieties, which they also fed to 170 volunteers in a taste test. Their new findings confirm what scientists have learned in recent years: a tomato's flavor depends not only on the balance of sugars and acids within the fruit but also on subtle fragrant compoundsmany of which are lacking in the modern supermarket tomato.

Harry Klee of the University of Florida has been studying tomato flavor for the past 10 years. Some of the shortcomings of supermarket tomatoes, he explains, arise because farmers have bred the plants to produce as much fruit as possible. The more fruit an individual tomato plant produces, the less sugar it can invest in each tomato, Klee says. Knowing that tomato flavor depends on so much more than sugar, however, Klee and his colleagues began a research project three years ago to analyze the chemical potpourri that determines a tomato's taste. Klee thinks what he has found suggests a new way to enhance the flavor of tomatoes without sacrificing the economy of high-yielding plants.