Scientists have discovered a flavor gene missing from store bought tomatoes

I found this very interesting.

Store-bought tomatoes taste bland, and scientists have discovered a gene that gives tomatoes their flavor is actually missing in about 93 percent of modern, domesticated varieties.

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/d...-store-bought-tomatoes-are-making-a-comeback/

Now they are fixen to screw up the tomato....at this time I couldn't get the blog to load above, but will try again later.

Genetic selection works. Sometimes too good.

jltrent said:

Now they are fixen to screw up the tomato....at this time I couldn't get the blog to load above, but will try again later.

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I think the site is down right now.

But they can stay on the shelf longer before they turn to mush.....

They have done it with some of the heat resistant varieties also. I had some of the nicest tomatoes last year. Vines were loaded but they didn't taste like tomatoes.

People have forgotten having to sort thru the tomatoes at the grocery store produce section to try to find some without soft or black mushy areas on them. Younger people have never had to do it.
They didn't keep very long in the fridge once you got them home either.
But, they did taste a lot better, even if you did have to cut some bad places out of them.

Field corn doesn't taste like it used to either.

JMJ Farms said:

Field corn doesn't taste like it used to either.

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Garden corn either as I haven't tasted the field corn lately, but I bet it has went down hill.

AS a student yrs ago, I did genetic research and discovered and isolated the genes for taste and for legs in chickens. I figured if I could double each of them, I could produce broilers with twice the taste and four drum sticks each..I planned on making a fortune by selling to KFC or Popeyes.... I was successful in producing the four drumsticks, but I don't know about the taste-- the little effers were so fast with those four legs, I could never catch 'em to wring their necks & cook 'em.

JMJ Farms said:

Field corn doesn't taste like it used to either.

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:welcome:

Here is a place to buy the heirloom seeds that has been passed down through families and then were donated and growers grew them in abundance to be able to sell them to any one that wanted them. These might still have the old taste that people remember.

https://www.seedsavers.org/search

JMJ Farms said:

Field corn doesn't taste like it used to either.

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Yeah. Cucumbers and carrots tasteless too.

Why is it just a tomato? A lot of veggies became tasteless these days.

I was gonna post about tasteless tomatoes when I found this entry. I am curious if anyone grows tomatoes any more that are "real"?

I was in the grocery store yesterday and a young fella was restocking the produce. I asked him Are all these tomato varieties equally tasteless? He said Sorry ma'am I don't know. I grow mine in a greenhouse. He said he also grows lettuce, spinach and a boat load of onions. A boatload I said. He said Yes a literal boatload. He had run out of boxes and had a johnboat so he filled it up with onions. I asked did you sell them to this store he said yes

It seems that grocery store tomatoes are not only flavorless but are also picked green. They fake ripen them with some sort of gas. Real tomatoes- I think it depends on your area and climate. In Oregon Seletz, Soldaki, Lemon Boy, Early Girl and Cherokee Purple are recommended. I have grown a few 'hairloom' plants from seed they are great but seem to have lousy disease resistance. I find the disease resistant Early Girl hybrid has great flavor when vine ripened and produces tomatos like mad from late Spring to frost. Early Girl and Cherokee Purple seedlings are available just about everywhere but I am not paying $4 a plant. Remember when you could get a 6 seedling flat for $1.99? Starting them in egg cartons on the window sill works just fine.

Another way to grow more free hybrid plants since they don't breed true is by rooting the suckers.

Not only do many fruits and vegetables have very little taste. But they have far lower nutritional value as well.
But don't worry they are only producing what the buyers want

I believe it. Local farm hosts events and uses their heirloom vegetables. Their tomatoes are amazing. I am planning to spread sea salt 90 in our garden this year to see if it makes a difference. Supposedly that makes the nutrients available.

I grow real tomatoes. The tomatoes you buy at the store are real too.

My understanding is that store tomatoes are picked Green, packed, and then shipped to wherever while gassing them to turn them red.

My advice is to buy local as much as possible. Support your local farmers, and most here can be supported by their local community as well.

We are pretty lucky here. People come from miles around to buy tomatoes grown in an adjoining county. And they are plentiful and even sold in the grocery stores here. Supposedly, there is something in the soil in Grainger county that gives them a better flavor.

sstterry said:

We are pretty lucky here. People come from miles around to buy tomatoes grown in an adjoining county. And they are plentiful and even sold in the grocery stores here. Supposedly, there is something in the soil in Grainger county that gives them a better flavor.

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First fresh vegetable of the year here are the Granger co tomatoes.