An aromatic tomato could be looming - a la heirloom varieties

Date:
March 7, 2022
Source:
University of Florida
Summary:
Scientists helped discover a way to enhance tomato smell and taste.

Scientists showed that five of the compounds are part of a
biochemical pathway for synthesis of these important flavor
compounds.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
You can scarcely find a tasty, heirloom tomato in the grocery store. But University of Florida scientists helped discover a way to enhance
tomato smell and taste. Breeding efforts over the last half century
have emphasized traits that are important to producers -- yield, disease resistance, appearance and post-harvest shelf life among them.


========================================================================== While those traits are important, modern commercial varieties tend
to fall short of the flavor potential shown in older varieties. But
consumers want tomatoes that taste and smell good.

Indeed, in a study published in 2012, consumers who taste-tested several
tomato varieties preferred tomatoes with high levels of nitrogenous
volatiles.

For years, consumers have lamented what they deem as the bland taste of tomatoes. Any flavor you savor when you bite into the fruit comes from
a combination of many aroma compounds. Some of those compounds contain nitrogen, and they add fruity, floral and tomato vine profiles to the
flavor mix. Working on an international team of scientists, two UF/IFAS researchers helped find a route to several important nitrogen-containing
tomato flavor compounds.

In a newly published study, scientists showed that five of the compounds
are part of a biochemical pathway for synthesis of these important
flavor compounds.

Using a closely related fruit, Solanum pennellii, scientists found a site
on a chromosome essential to produce detectable nitrogenous volatiles
in tomatoes, said Denise Tieman, a UF/IFAS research assistant professor
of horticultural sciences.

That data led scientists to identify a step in the pathway to nitrogen- containing flavor compounds.

"Now that we know how these compounds are made in tomatoes, we can
identify varieties that have the heirloom version of the enzyme and high
levels of these flavor compounds, and we can breed this trait into modern tomatoes to improve flavor," Tieman said.

Tomatoes produce many aroma volatiles, including nitrogen-containing
volatiles that are relatively rare in other fruits.

Since these volatiles are active at low concentrations, increasing their
levels does not impact yield or fruit size.

Tomatoes are the most valuable fruit produced worldwide. Indeed, in 2020, American farmers harvested about 12,600 tons of fresh market tomatoes
and 11 million tons of processing tomatoes from 273,00 acres. That adds
up to $1 billion in revenue. Florida harvested 26,000 areas of tomatoes
during the 2018- 2019 season, valued at almost $426 million.

The new research, published recently in the Proceedings of the National
Academy of Sciences,was led by Harry Klee, a UF/IFAS professor emeritus of horticultural sciences and Charles Goulet, a professor of plant science
at Universite Laval in Quebec City, Canada.

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_Florida. Original
written by Brad Buck.

Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. David K. Liscombe, Yusuke Kamiyoshihara, Je're'mie Ghironzi,
Christine J.

Kempthorne, Kevin Hooton, Blandine Bulot, Vassili Kanellis,
James McNulty, Nghi B. Lam, Louis Fe'lix Nadeau, Michael Pautler,
Denise M.

Tieman, Harry J. Klee, Charles Goulet. A flavin-dependent
monooxygenase produces nitrogenous tomato aroma volatiles using
cysteine as a nitrogen source. Proceedings of the National Academy
of Sciences, 2022; 119 (7) DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2118676119 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/03/220307113059.htm

--- up 1 week, 10 hours, 51 minutes
* Origin: -=> Castle Rock BBS <=- Now Husky HPT Powered! (1:317/3)