Critical (first) world problem solved!

Scientists have determined that the reason modern domesticated tomatoes taste like moist posterboard is because a gene is missing, and they know the gene.

So, let's get busy all you GMO guys and gals, and get this fixed! Modify them genes!

link



I disagree with those scientists.  Diner and restaurant tomatoes are picked before ripe. They are then gassed - I believe carbon dioxide, to give them the pinkish red color they have when they are on your plate.


The more expensive restaurants may pay for a cardboard gene to be inserted to the tomatoes so that the "tomato"  doesn't fall apart on you when you stick a fork in it.


no, no, no, the tomatoes we get today have been bred to survive being shipped from California to New York. It's that breeding that lost the gene.

from the link

"The rise of the bland tomato started with domestication. Typically, this process leads to juicier, tastier, and bigger crops. Just think, maize started off as a wispy grass-like plant, but it can now produce a corn-on-the-cob. However, tomatoes seem to be selected for practical properties like size and yield, not taste. The team's analysis showed that around 200 genes were lost in domestication that took place in northern Ecuador, followed by more gene losses through further domestication in South America and then Central America.

“During the domestication and improvement of the tomato, people mostly focused on traits that would increase production, like fruit size and shelf life, so some genes involved in other important fruit quality traits and stress tolerance were lost during this process,” explained Zhangjun Fei, BTI faculty member and adjunct professor in Cornell University's School of Integrative Plant Science."


Rutgers Tomato Reinvented with Even More Flavor

A new tomato that combines the nostalgia-inducing flavor of an heirloom with the durability of supermarket varieties is Rutgers’ answer to anyone who wonders what happened to the flavorful Jersey tomatoes of the past.

I remember when that was announced, but I'm surprised to see it was 4 years ago.

I haven't seen one yet. Have anyone, outside of Rutgers itself?

4 years is a long wait for a tomato.



Can you grow them yourself?  Especially if you can get hold of an heirloom variety or two.

I don't know if (Australia's) Diggers Garden Club export to the States, but they may know of some local growers you could try.

https://www.diggers.com.au/shop/vegetables/tomatoes/



The flavor was lost in selective breeding for:

  • Durability during picking & transport (fruits that don't bruise)
  • Shelf life (fruits that don't rot too quickly)
  • Greater disease & pest resistance (tomatoes are subject to many, including several viral)
  • Better drought resistance

It does not surprise me, that in the selective breeding process, some genes were lost or deactivated.  Every plant trait is based in genetics, and random mutations happen all the time.  Whenever you select for some desirable trait, you risk loosing some other trait.

Maplewood Garden Club plant sale has long offered a great variety of heirloom tomatoes, as well as the more modern types ('Rutgers', 'Beefsteak', 'Cherry', etc.).  I always pay the premium for the heirloom varietis (which often split, have ugly color streaks, etc., but they taste great).


drummerboy said:
I remember when that was announced, but I'm surprised to see it was 4 years ago.

I haven't seen one yet. Have anyone, outside of Rutgers itself?

4 years is a long wait for a tomato.



 did you even search? grin


‘Rutgers 250’ Tomato Seeds Go on Sale


Seeds don't help me. Nowhere to grow them.

Shoprite is my garden.



drummerboy said:
Seeds don't help me. Nowhere to grow them.
Shoprite is my garden.



try the farmers' markets.


drummerboy said:
Seeds don't help me. Nowhere to grow them.
Shoprite is my garden.



 Aren't there some fairly decent tomatoes at Trader Joe's? I tried a pretty jazzy one called a Kumato.  They have some good heirlooms.

They may not be as great as the ones from my Grandpa's garden in Queens but for someone like myself who thinks a day without tomatoes is a day without sunshine, you might find some better than those in Shoprite. I shop in both places but I buy my produce at TJs.


drummerboy said:
Seeds don't help me. Nowhere to grow them.

 Try growing seedlings in pots on a deck, which is what I do.


drummerboy said:
If I had a deck....

 A window ledge?


drummerboy said:
nope

 In the basement, hydroponically, under Grow-Lights?    (You'll just have to make sure that everyone knows you're growing tomatoes, rather than something else....)


DB, not suggesting this for you (I have no idea how busy you are etc), just wondering if you know: is the community garden still going? Are plots still available, or would the waiting lists be ridiculously long?

Community gardens used to be a lovely solution for people who wanted some kind of garden experience but weren't able to keep a plot at home.


marksierra said:


drummerboy said:
nope
 In the basement, hydroponically, under Grow-Lights?    (You'll just have to make sure that everyone knows you're growing tomatoes, rather than something else....)

 nope


joanne said:
DB, not suggesting this for you (I have no idea how busy you are etc), just wondering if you know: is the community garden still going? Are plots still available, or would the waiting lists be ridiculously long?
Community gardens used to be a lovely solution for people who wanted some kind of garden experience but weren't able to keep a plot at home.

 yeah, that's a possibility, except it's too late in the season to get a plot. Maybe next year.


anyway, I'm counting on corporate America to solve this for me.



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