digitS'
Garden Master
So does strawberry flavor!
I'm reading a book by Bob Holmes, "Flavor, the science of our most neglected sense." Or, at least, I'm reading the chapter, "The Killer Tomato." Holmes is a PhD biologist and author.
These flavors, vanilla and strawberry and a whole host of others, are "volatiles." Those are naturally occurring flavor compounds. They are in fruit and we smell and taste them as the fruit ripens.
The book relates how volatiles in tomatoes convince tasters that there is more sugar in the fruit than is actually there, as evidenced by testing. The researcher in the interview talks about Matina, a German heirloom and compares it to Yellow Jelly Bean. Hey! I have had Yellow Jelly Bean in my garden the last 3 seasons! I really like it.
The thing is -- Matina has 25% less sugar than Yellow Jelly Bean but tasters rate it higher for sweetness. "Matina tastes so sweet, despite its low sugar content, because it's rich in volatile odor compounds such as geranial that make our brains think 'sweet.'"
I think that might be a good thing and encourages me to try Matina -- certainly, I'm not gonna give up on Yellow Jelly Bean just because it has more sugar than what it seems to have.
Developing sugars requires quite a lot of "work" from the plant. It comes at the expense of fruit production. Therefore, farmers would like to ignore it rather than to grow varieties that are less-productive ... but, sweeter. Consumers tend to like that sweetness and its absence in modern tomato varieties bothers them. The professional plant breeders are tending to pay more attention to these volatiles because they don't require much from the plant, not like making more sugars. Production can continue at the high levels of newer, commercial tomato varieties.
But, I'd never thought of this: some flavors make things taste sweeter even tho they do not have more sugar.
Steve
I'm reading a book by Bob Holmes, "Flavor, the science of our most neglected sense." Or, at least, I'm reading the chapter, "The Killer Tomato." Holmes is a PhD biologist and author.
These flavors, vanilla and strawberry and a whole host of others, are "volatiles." Those are naturally occurring flavor compounds. They are in fruit and we smell and taste them as the fruit ripens.
The book relates how volatiles in tomatoes convince tasters that there is more sugar in the fruit than is actually there, as evidenced by testing. The researcher in the interview talks about Matina, a German heirloom and compares it to Yellow Jelly Bean. Hey! I have had Yellow Jelly Bean in my garden the last 3 seasons! I really like it.
The thing is -- Matina has 25% less sugar than Yellow Jelly Bean but tasters rate it higher for sweetness. "Matina tastes so sweet, despite its low sugar content, because it's rich in volatile odor compounds such as geranial that make our brains think 'sweet.'"
I think that might be a good thing and encourages me to try Matina -- certainly, I'm not gonna give up on Yellow Jelly Bean just because it has more sugar than what it seems to have.
Developing sugars requires quite a lot of "work" from the plant. It comes at the expense of fruit production. Therefore, farmers would like to ignore it rather than to grow varieties that are less-productive ... but, sweeter. Consumers tend to like that sweetness and its absence in modern tomato varieties bothers them. The professional plant breeders are tending to pay more attention to these volatiles because they don't require much from the plant, not like making more sugars. Production can continue at the high levels of newer, commercial tomato varieties.
But, I'd never thought of this: some flavors make things taste sweeter even tho they do not have more sugar.
Steve
