The Scientific Search for the Essence of a Tasty Tomato
Scientists are several steps closer to restoring flavor to the
supermarket tomato, a once-magnificent fruit turned by
commercial pressures into a juicy orb of gustatory cardboard.
After 13 consumer tasting panels evaluated samples of 158
heirloom tomato varieties, researchers statistically correlated
their responses with molecular analyses of tomato composition.
From this emerged a profile of some two dozen chemical compounds
that made the fruits taste good. Such a profile has long eluded
researchers, for whom the tomato represents a challenge of
surprising complexity. Klee and colleagues’ latest study, “The
Chemical Interactions Underlying Tomato Flavor Preferences,” was
published May 24 in Current Biology and represents the latest
stage in a decade-long effort to identify the genetic and
molecular underpinnings of tomato taste. The project, which has
involved psychologists, statisticians, molecular biologists and
various food scientists, is described i