Tomatoes are a common vegetable and fruit on our table, whether eaten raw or cooked, can bring us rich taste and aroma.
However, have you ever wondered why the tomatoes you buy now are not as delicious as when you were a child?
Tomato, the debut of failure
The South American Andes are home to tomatoes, and initially the Spaniards brought wild tomatoes back to Europe. However, this kind of vegetable and fruit, which seems to make people very appetizing, many people show headaches, diarrhea and other symptoms after eating, so that everyone calls it "Satan's fruit" and is only used as an ornamental plant in the garden.
Is it because tomatoes are poisonous?
Of course not, it's the cutlery that should be back.
It is said that the plates on which tomatoes were served at that time were made of lead-tin alloy, and the compounds formed by the reaction of lead with the acidic juice of tomatoes caused poisoning. It is a pity that people at that time did not understand this, and as a result, tomatoes were wronged.
Another theory is that people at that time smelled the strange smell of tomatoes, and the flowers were more similar to mandala (a poisonous nightshade plant), so they did not dare to eat tomatoes with a bright appearance.
It was not until more than 200 years later that tomatoes were slowly served from the private gardens of the British royal family to the human table, and since then tomatoes have gradually become popular in Europe, and later spread all the way to Africa, Asia and other places.
But at this time, there is a problem, although the thin and juicy tomatoes are full of flavor, they are a little squeamish, easy to break when touched and pressed, and very intolerant to storage and transportation. This disadvantage makes it difficult to open up the market for tomatoes, and can only be sold in local villages or markets.
The reason for the weakening of the taste turned out to be...?
Tomatoes are difficult to transport, which may not have had much impact in the past, but later, more and more people live in cities and towns, and the distance of agricultural products from the field to the table is getting farther and farther, and the transportation of tomatoes has become a problem that must be faced.
Therefore, scientists and breeders have cultivated tomato varieties with high yield, good hardness, storage and transportation resistance, and strong disease resistance through research and years of breeding, which has enriched our vegetable basket and greatly increased the income of farmers.
But the problem is again.
Farmers want tomatoes to sell well and make money, and they want varieties with high yields, good disease resistance (less pesticides), and easy harvesting (high hardness);
When consumers choose tomatoes, the first choice is that the fruit looks red, but it cannot be too soft (easy to break), and the larger variety;
Therefore, in order for breeders to cultivate tomato varieties that can sell well and be recognized by the majority of farmers, it is necessary to cultivate varieties with high yield, good disease resistance, storage and transportation resistance, and uniform coloring.
However, this also led to the loss of tomato flavor genes in the process of tomato commercialization.
After going further and further in the breeding direction of convenient tomato transportation, we found that the content of sugar, acid, volatile flavor substances and other substances in tomatoes is gradually decreasing, and the content of these substances is closely related to the flavor of tomatoes.
As a result, tomatoes become more and more resistant to storage, but tomatoes that were originally juicy, soft and juicy, and have a unique aroma begin to become dull in taste and hard in texture.
In addition to the influence of breeding, the harvest of tomatoes at different ripening periods can also affect the taste of tomatoes.
Tomatoes are divided into green ripening period and red ripening period, in the green ripening period can be picked, at this time tomato fruit is still relatively hard and a little green, more suitable for mechanical harvesting and transportation, after a few days of transportation, this time to reach the supermarket and the market just arrived at the tomato red ripening period, this harvesting method not only greatly reduces the loss in the transportation process, but also extends the shelf life of tomatoes when selling.
However, the starch inside the red-ripe tomatoes on the plant is fully hydrolyzed, and the flavor will be much better than the kind of tomatoes ripe after early picking, but unfortunately such tomatoes cannot be transported, and we are not easy to eat.
In short, in a word, the tomato now, it is not delicious.
Tomatoes, is there a chance to return to the deliciousness of the past?
Good news, the answer is yes.
In recent years, while people's quality of life has improved, everyone has higher requirements for the flavor of vegetables and fruits such as tomatoes. In order to meet this demand, the research on tomato flavor genes is being carried out step by step, and breeding work is also gradually carried out. The author has also been fortunate to conduct research on tomato quality, and will continue to improve the flavor of existing tomato varieties, and I believe that in the near future, everyone will be able to relive the taste of childhood.
In fact, tomatoes are only a microcosm of many vegetables, fruits and other crops, with the improvement of people's living standards, just "fresh" fruits and vegetables can no longer meet the picky eaters, the demand for full has become eat well, delicious, eat healthy. As a result, the direction of breeding has also changed from focusing on yield to focusing more on taste and nutrition, and more consideration of consumer needs.
For example, Chinese cabbage, winter melon, watermelon, pumpkin and other relatively large vegetables, in the past, everyone always felt that the bigger the better, a family of seven or eight, buy a large cabbage can eat; Now there are more and more small families, a family is often three or four people, buy one can not eat, so in recent years some miniaturized vegetables and fruits are more popular with consumers, such as bebe pumpkin, baby vegetables, mini winter melon, small watermelon, etc., these are in accordance with the change of consumption habits and make breeding adjustments.
They are the dreamers of our childhood memories
At that time, a tomato seed cost a few cents or even a few dollars, planting an acre of tomatoes, just seeds, farmers have to spend thousands, the cost is greatly increased. The progress of tomato breeding on the mainland has reduced the burden on farmers.
When it comes to tomato breeding, I have to mention Professor Li Jingfu of Northeast Agricultural University, a well-known tomato breeding expert in the mainland and affectionately known as the "Chinese Tomato King" by farmers. He spent fifty years catching up with foreign tomato breeding techniques and helping many farmers lift themselves out of poverty.
Professor Li once said that when he saw the red tomatoes on the dinner table during his overseas inspection, he was particularly moved, and he made up his mind at that time: We must also cultivate such good tomatoes!
Usually, Professor Li always soaks in his greenhouse, cross-pollination, field management, quality appraisal needless to say, without a scientific research assistant, he personally picks up water to water the ground, and rushes to water it at night when there is not enough water during the day. It is such a little effort that brings great rewards.
The hard work paid off, Professor Li Jingfu led the Dongnong vegetable team has collected and cultivated more than 2,000 tomato germplasm resources, and bred 27 new tomato varieties with independent intellectual property rights, some of which have replaced expensive "foreign varieties", and some varieties are exported to Russia, India and other countries.
He said that he wants to work for another ten years, let Chinese tomato varieties completely replace foreign imported varieties, and continue to write a new chapter of China's tomato dream!
The taste of tomatoes, from the rich and sweet memories of childhood to the slight faintness now, and then to the future to regain memories, the flavor is still the same, we will usher in not only the return of the tomato flavor when we were young, but also the rapid catch-up of agricultural modernization, living standards, and scientific and technological levels.
Maybe one day we will remember again and tell our children about that history: the tomatoes we ate at that time had no taste and were hard...