The supermarket tomato, bred to resist bruising, could gain improved flavor thanks to Chinese and U.S. scientists who found a genetic roadmap to the genes that determine the taste of tomatoes, says the Wall Street Journal. Tomatoes are not native to China but the Asian nation has been the world’s largest grower of them since 1995.
“A sweeter tomato that stays fresh on the store shelf as long as current varieties would theoretically mark an improvement for consumers, even if it doesn’t add to the already sizable market,” says the Journal. Sanwen Huang, a Chinese geneticist, says tomatoes are stir-fried or eaten fresh in China, rather than sent to processors, “so flavor is a major concern. People complain that tomatoes are not as tasty as before.”
In a project led by Huang and U.S. expert Harry Klee, Chinese researchers created a genetic map of all the factors involved in tomato taste. They found two genes that add sweetness and they identified other genes that provide volatile chemicals that produce flavor. The research was published in the journal Science.
“One of the very nice things we discovered is there are kinds of volatiles that can increase the sweetness you perceive,” Huang told the Journal. That finding opens the possibility of lower-sugar tomatoes without a loss of flavor, he said.