Science - How Tomatoes Lost Their Taste
Turns out these green shoulders are a result of the same gene that controls the amount of sugar present in ripe fruits. When farmers selected for a mutation that produced uniformly red tomatoes, they sacrificed flavor.
[Image description: a hand holding a glass bowl stuffed with red plum and cherry tomatoes. Most of the plum tomatoes have splashes of green on their tops and shoulders.]
It’s part of the GMO process … whether it’s from selection or actual gene manipulation. Growers didn’t realize that aiming for looks above all also affected how the fruit tastes.
When I was a kid, way before GMO was a BIG thing, tomatoes tasted S T R O N G. Like the acid would burn the inside of your mouth if you ate too many. But the taste was WOW! I mean you knew you were eating a tomato and not just some fleshy, sometimes moist sandwich-filler.
Chalk it up to companies wanting to sell on looks vs quality.
Here’s 2 articles that explain …
Yep, it makes me sad that so few people know how tomatoes are supposed to taste! And not just that, but the sheer variety of flavor. I wish there was more education about how food that doesn’t look perfect still makes for excellent eating. Been on my mind to reach out to local schools/scouts/youth organizations and maybe find a way to help teach kids about where their food comes from.
You might get a kick out of this guy: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/heritage-appalachian-apples
I have read about his work before! I think what he’s doing is awesome, preserving genetic diversity in our crops (and in our culture!) is so important.
With tomatoes it’s entirely due selective breeding, since there currently are no genetically modified tomatoes commercially available. The only genetically modified tomato that’s ever been sold in the US was the FavrSavr tomato (developed to allow for later picking to increase flavor) but due to low sales it was pulled from the market in 1997.
Although, there may be a new cultivar of GM tomato coming up relatively soon, as the USDA has approved a variety of tomato that’s been genetically modified to produce a huge amount of anthocyanins, making the tomato a deep purple throughout the entire fruit. Also interestingly the developer has stated that they plan on selling the seeds to home gardeners.
