|
|
|
Picture-perfect, slicer-type tomatoes from the
|
New tomato varieties are typically bred for disease
resistance,
high yields and how well they ship. But food scientists are
searching
for tomatoes that taste good, too.
“We know there’s a lot of consumer dissatisfaction when
it comes to store-bought tomatoes,” said Rob Shewfelt, a
food scientist with the University of Georgia College of
Agricultural
and Environmental Sciences.
“What we want to find out,” he said, “is what
consumers don’t like about the flavor and what can be done about
it.”
The tomato project research team includes Shewfelt; Jay Scott
of the Gulf Coast Research and Education Center in Bradenton,
Fla.; Liz Baldwin of the U.S. Department of Agriculture
Subtropical
Fruit Station in Winter Haven, Fla.; and Harry Klee of the
University
of Florida.
What do consumers want in a
tomato?
“A lot of work has been done on genetic modification of
tomato flavor,” Shewfelt said. “But no one I know of
has defined the quality standards from the consumer’s
standpoint.”
With USDA funding, the team evaluated more than 50 tomato
types
from Scott’s collection. “We wanted to test several
selections
so we would have a wide range of tomato flavors,” Shewfelt
said.
The evaluated tomatoes were picked half-ripe and breaker (when
the tomato is just showing signs of ripening).
Klee looked at the differences in the genes of the selections.
Baldwin tested the tomatoes using a chemical flavor analysis.
UGA-trained and nontrained consumer panelists then tasted the
samples, rating their flavor “great,”
“acceptable”
or “not acceptable.”
“We found the characteristics for ‘great’ are different
from those of ‘acceptable,’” Shewfelt said. “A premium
tomato would obviously be one our consumers ranked as
‘great.’”
The selections were ripened before the taste tests. Panelists
thought some tasted great when picked table-ripe. But they ranked
the same tomatoes unacceptable when picked at the breaker
stage.
Some varieties rated pretty good whether they were picked ripe
or at breaker. And some, Shewfelt said, tasted great when picked
red-ripe, “but if you picked them breaker, they tasted just
awful.”
Until now, breeders picked the best
tomatoes
Evaluating flavor has always been a part of tomato variety
selection, Shewfelt said. But until now, the breeders did the
tasting.
“Breeders taste them when they are ripe, and they choose
the varieties based on how well they ship,” he said.
“But
since tomatoes aren’t shipped ripe, we’re looking for selections
that are acceptable when picked breaker (unripe) and allowed to
ripen.”
The researchers are close to defining what consumers like.
They’re also identifying the tomatoes consumers rank highest and
comparing their flavor characteristics.
“Once we identify the ones with really great flavors,
we can work with geneticists to identify the genes that cause
these flavors,” he said. “Then we can screen selections
for these genes and not have to put each through the consumer
tests.”
Shewfelt’s goal is to identify varieties consumers will accept
so commercial packers can develop a tomato brand name shoppers
will grow to recognize.
“If you knew reliably, eight times out of 10, you’re
going
to be happy when you buy this tomato, you’d probably be willing
to spend more money for it,” he said. “It’s going to
take a lot of integration to get to that point. But we’re well
on the way.”
Until the research is completed, shoppers have to keep
gambling
with tomato taste at the supermarket.
Grape tomatoes best bet for tasty
tomatoes
“You can buy grape tomatoes,” Shewfelt said.
“They
have much more flavor than store-bought slicing tomatoes. They
just don’t work for hamburgers. But they’re perfect for
salads.”
Shewfelt said shoppers have grown to trust grape tomatoes to
have good flavor.
“When I buy them, I know I’ve got a good chance of
getting
a good-tasting tomato,” he said. “But when I buy big,
slicer-type tomatoes, I have no clue as to whether it will have
any flavor.”
