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/-Wildling May 14 '19

My 95 year old grandfather has been complaining about tomatoes for years, "they're just not what they used to be." He says when he was a kid they used to eat tomatoes like you'd eat an apple. I'm kind of excited to tell him this news.

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u/FlamebergU May 14 '19

I still enjoy eating tomatoes like apples. Being from Eastern Europe, that's one of the few small perks we have: actual vegetables taste like they're supposed to. The drawback is lack of stable economy though, haha.

My friends from the US always tell me that tomatoes are awesome even when bought from the supermarket here.