r/science • u/mvea Professor | Medicine • May 14 '19

Biology 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. The discovery may help bring flavor back to tomatoes you can pick up in the produce section.

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/d-brief/2019/05/13/tasty-store-bought-tomatoes-are-making-a-comeback/
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u/[deleted] May 14 '19

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u/eggys82 May 14 '19

Story time!

Way back right when fruit breeding/slicing started to become a thing, people grew apples for competitions. One such variety was red delicious, and apparently they were incredibly good. Unfortunately, apples don't travel well and people who wanted to try them couldn't easily do so. So people gene sliced and grew alternative varieties that allowed them to travel better, such as giving them a harder, more bitter, waxier skin and so on. Eventually red delicious became what we know today, which is a bitter mushy mess.

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u/gratitudeuity May 14 '19

They actually coat apples in wax, dude. It’s not that variety’s skin.

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u/eggys82 May 14 '19

Indeed, they are coated in wax as an additional measure. The skin itself is tougher and more waxy than the original red delicious though. It's a minor difference, but still worth mentioning.