Are there any characteristics by which it can be uniquely determined – size, shape, color, smell? Is it possible to influence the taste of the fruit during cultivation?
Components of taste
All substances responsible for the taste of tomato can be divided into 6 groups:
- the sahara;
- fatty acids;
- polyphenols;
- carotenoid;
- organic acid;
- branched-chain amino acids.
Acids and sugars
The most fully studied two components of tomato fruit-acid (malic, citric, glutamic) and sugar (glucose and fructose). It is their ratio that most often changes the taste, and some tomatoes seem sour to us, some-sweet, and some-tasteless.
In the fruit acidic tomatoes contain a lot of acid and little sugar sweet – lots of sugar and little acid, tasteless tomatoes and a low content of acid and sugar. The best are the fruits of varieties (hybrids) with a high content of both acids and sugars – such tomatoes have a pleasant rich taste.
The colour of the fruit
Tomatoes with different colors of fruits have a different ratio of sugars and acids. In orange and yellow acid content is lower, and their taste is much softer than that of red. Tomatoes with a brown color of the fruit are considered to have a rich taste, but not everyone likes it. A pleasant taste is endowed with fruits with a high content of carotenoids, in particular lycopene.
If you choose to be guided by the color, it is worth remembering a simple rule: the richer the color, the higher the probability of a good bright taste.
Aroma
No less interesting is the relationship between smell and taste. It is known that 12 substances are responsible for the intensity of the aroma, 28 for the sweetness. The combination of some of them can create a sweet taste of the fruit without the participation of the sugars themselves. More than 3000 different compounds are responsible for the aroma, which, unlike sugars and acids, have not been studied yet. However, the contribution of aromatic components in the concept of “delicious tomato” is undeniable.
Size
As it turned out, the size also matters: the smaller the fruit, the smaller the water content in it and, accordingly, the higher the dry matter content, which means a more saturated taste.
It is for this reason that one of the most delicious tomatoes is cherry.
Agrotechnics
Agricultural technology can definitely affect the taste of the fruit. Tomatoes grown on clay soils are much tastier than those that grew on sand. Stagnant moisture adversely affects the taste – it is better that the soil was dried. There is evidence of experiments on watering tomatoes with diluted sea water, which favorably affected the taste. However, the accuracy of the information test is quite difficult.
From fertilizers it is better to choose organic, with the addition of potassium, phosphorus and sulfur-containing mineral.
Ideally, daytime temperatures should be at +25…+27°C, and night within +15…+17°C. this difference contributes to the accumulation of sugars in the fruit. In addition, at least 8 hours a day tomatoes should be under the sun. The more sunlight, and the more intense it is, the sweeter the fruit will grow. If the weather is cloudy and rainy, delicious tomatoes will only dream of.
By the way, low solar activity in winter is one of the main reasons for the inexpressive taste of winter and spring store tomatoes.
Variety or hybrid
It remains to touch on the last aspect that affects the taste: variety or hybrid-what is still tastier? The adherents of the varieties (especially older ones) indicate their undeniable merits:
- tender juicy flesh of ripe fruit;
- a rich classic fragrance;
- the very taste of real “tomatoes from childhood”.
On the other hand, some prefer more dense fruit hybrids. And it will not be quite true to say that there are no delicious among them. Hybrids of the last generation differ not only in yield, but also excellent qualities of the fruit (high pigment content, intense color, rich aroma, high dry matter content), the complex of which becomes the key to good taste characteristics.
Geographical component
In the matter of taste there is also a geographical reference. Some varieties grow delicious in one place, and others – in another.
To date, the taste of tomatoes is a concept that has not been thoroughly studied, which makes it possible for progress in this area.
The variety of taste preferences of consumers-ordinary people-is so great that scientists doubt the possibility of creating one variety, the taste of which would be recognized by all as ideal. After all how many people-so much and ideal tastes.
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