I have been reading about tomatoes, prompted by an article in the latest copy of one of my monthly magazines. The article pointed to volatile compounds as contributing to the flavor of the tomato, along with the expected sugar. So then I Googled 'volatile compounds in tomatoes'.......I'm not sure I wanted to know that there are over 400 volatile compounds in tomatoes......more than my old chemistry set I had when I was a kid. Another interesting other morsel of information was that the typical grocery store tomato is raised to be colorful, blemish free and transportable. Taste was not anywhere near the top of the list. :-( Also, more fruit per plant seem to indicate less sugar for each tomato.....less sugar, less taste. However, some farmers raise Heirloom tomatoes. Their pedigrees harken back to a time when flavor was at the top of the list. Anyway my first tomato ever is the size of a dime. Question: If I limit the amount of fruit on the plant will the fruit be more flavorful? Just a thought as my first tomato gets bigger and I wonder what IS inside? Jerry
Jerry, that is a thoughtful post...I grow for flavor, but it still needs to look nice..EYE appeal is also what draws people to my vegetables, but if they don't taste good then they won't be back, either. Nutrition plays a huge part in the flavor of the tomatoes, too. If it doesn't have anything with which to grow with, I don't believe it will have much flavor, either. So, I don't limit the number of fruit on the plant, but I do fertilize quite a bit. IF you want large fruit, though, do limit the number your plant is growing. I also wonder and do believe that if a veg or fruit has no flavor it must not have any nutritional value either. Yes, your article is correct, the tomatoes grown for the grocery stores are not grown for their flavor, they are grown for their durability to get to the market unblemished and have a shelf life of a few WEEKS. (IMO, AKA cardboard flavor). And believe it or not the seeds are VERY expensive like, 1.00 a piece, so a grower may have hundreds of dollars just in the seed alone for the house and hopefully never sees a crop failure such as damping off or over fertilizing accidentally etc.
Jerry, You like experiments--when your tomato ripens, taste it, then taste a grocery store tomato. I think you'll find the taste completely different; the texture different; and the shelf-life of yours will be shorter. You wouldn't think the two tomatoes were from the same planet!
Interesting! I guess that was why I had a dislike for tomatoes. I guess I had been had by commercial growers.
sad state of affairs, isn't it? when we have the ability to alter plants and flavor is not a consideration! Neither is nutrition, I read somewhere that a super corn that was developed to help end hunger didn't have enough nutrition to be sold as food!
i remember growing up that my mother never bought tomatoes in the winter...she said that they have no flavor, that was before the grocery stores stocked alot of different varieties, year round...i feel bad she missed the plum tomatoes when they started showing up....they at least have some flavor, even in the winter..that is all i will buy in the winter!
I had rather eat cardboard than store bought tomatoes no matter what time of year. It would taste better!
