Challenge Is on to Grow Better-Tasting Tomatoes
January 30, 2020 There isn’t much more disappointing to peoples’ palates than a bland tomato. However, plant breeders and growers working together can help food lovers avoid that kind of mealtime mishap. One University of Florida tomato expert is calling on fellow researchers around the world to use genetics to help farmers grow tastier tomatoes everywhere under all kinds of conditions.
UF/IFAS Professor Emeritus Jay Scott recently gave a presentation at the Tomato Breeders Roundtable and Tomato Disease Workshop in Clearwater, FL. There, he expressed the need for a grand collaboration in growing flavorful tomatoes in different environments – no easy feat. His experience includes more than 30 years as a tomato breeder at the UF/IFAS Gulf Coast Research and Education Center in Balm. Among his accomplishments is the release of ‘Tasti-Lee.’
“I am proposing a worldwide approach involving public and private breeding programs that one day might make dissatisfaction with tomato flavor obsolete,” Scott said during the meeting.
Scott suggests scientists use genetic markers to efficiently breed tomatoes that are more likely to tempt consumers’ taste buds. To do that, researchers must develop more flavorful fruit in various types of soil and weather conditions, also factoring in irrigation, rain, fertilization programs, temperature, controlled environment options, and more.
“There’s a huge environmental effect on flavor in tomatoes,” Scott said. “You may not get the same flavor in different places. The big trick is to get an environmentally stable good flavor.”
Scott and UF/IFAS colleague Elizabeth Baldwin published a research paper in 2015 showing the importance of growing environment on tomato flavor, indicating that fruit harvested during the spring taste better than those from the fall.
“We should test material around the world,” Scott continued. “This approach would involve a whole bunch of people. Everybody’s input would be helpful. Plus, I like the international cooperation aspect.”
What do you think about the flavor of greenhouse-grown tomatoes vs. field-grown? Submit a comment below.
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