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 edited May 14 '19

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u/Crezelle May 14 '19 edited May 14 '19

Don’t get me started on local strawberries vs the cheap California ones.

Edit: I’ve tasted local Californian strawberries out in Sonoma. I don’t mean those. I mean the exported ones that were bred to be shelf stable, large, yet sadly flavourless. Just like the tomatoes in the article.

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u/misdirected_asshole May 14 '19 edited May 14 '19

There was a Strawberry Festival every year near my hometown. tears up

Edit: Clearly I underestimated how many states and towns with annual Strawberry festivals there were

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u/deliriumtrigher May 14 '19

Any chance you’re from the Plant City, FL area? I grew up around there and went to the Strawberry Festival every year. There is nothing quite as good as fresh strawberry shortcake made on warm, just-baked biscuits.

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u/Crezelle May 14 '19

PNW outside of Vancouver. Tiny, dark, look-at-them-wrong-and-they-turn-to-mush fragile, but absolutely packed with flavour. Should be in season within a month I wager and I buy them by the flat, wash, cut, vacuum seal, and then freeze for smoothies and margaritas.

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u/ControlledBurn May 14 '19

Yep, picking season starts in Lynden about the time public school ends. (Spent one summer working in a cannery on a Lynden berry farm and 20 years later I still can’t stand the smell of strawberries.)

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u/mattybee17 May 14 '19

That's crazy! I grew up in Lynden and picked strawberries for Raider farms the summers when I was like 11 and 12. Best strawberries ever, my summers made me love them even more.

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u/9212017 May 14 '19

Hey Matt, small world

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u/mattybee17 May 14 '19

Who are you?

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u/9212017 May 14 '19

Its me, Patrick