Heirloom Flavor
The first step in a flavor improvement program starts with a simple question: what do people like and what’s in the varieties that people do like? In order to answer this question, we took a giant step back to “heirloom” tomatoes. There is absolutely no definition of the word “heirloom”. But most people accept that an heirloom is an old variety that predates the time of intensive commercial breeding. Most, though not all, are inbred (that is, they breed true to type). Contrary to popular belief, not all heirlooms taste good. We grew a broad cross-section of heirlooms, gave them to a panel of consumers and asked them to rate each variety. Don’t worry about the scale we used. It’s complicated. All you need to know is that the higher the score, the better it tasted. Note that there is some variation between years for varieties that were tested multiple times. All of these varieties were grown in our spring season at the University of Florida Suwanee River Research and Education Center in Live Oak, FL. Expect some variation in other parts of the country and from season to season. One can only hope that some of the really terrible varieties do better somewhere!
This work was published in: Current Biology (2012) 22: 1–5. (DOI 10.1016/j.cub.2012.04.016). It was supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation and from support of the Florida Agricultural Experiment Station.
Variety |
LIKING |
Maglia Rosa Cherry |
30.48 |
UF Secret 121 |
28.52 |
UF Secret 136 |
26.51 |
Early Red Chief |
22.37 |
Super Sioux |
21.29 |
St. Pierre |
21.19 |
St. Pierre |
20.70 |
Peron Sprayless |
20.04 |
Yellow Jelly Bean |
19.09 |
Maglia Rosa Cherry |
18.94 |
Mexico Midget |
18.46 |
Gulf State Market |
17.68 |
UF Secret 178 |
16.79 |
Kentucky Beefsteak |
16.69 |
Wisconsin 55 |
16.08 |
UF Secret 153 |
16.00 |
Three Sisters |
15.99 |
Orange Queen |
15.75 |
Bloody Butcher |
15.68 |
Valencia |
15.47 |
Three Sisters |
15.45 |
Skorospelka Red |
15.33 |
Yellow Perfection |
15.11 |
Super Sioux |
14.75 |
Garden Peach |
14.62 |
Lemon Drop |
13.94 |
Red Calabash |
13.87 |
Clear Pink Slicer |
13.78 |
Czech Bush Red |
13.63 |
Red House Free Standing |
12.53 |
Amish Salad |
12.50 |
Wisconsin 55 |
12.43 |
Ailsa Craig |
12.38 |
UF Secret 182 |
12.21 |
Green Zebra |
11.35 |
St. Pierre |
10.59 |
Bloody Butcher |
10.23 |
Florida 47 |
10.14 |
Matina |
9.36 |
Marmande VFA |
8.27 |
Zapotec |
7.89 |
Flora-Dade |
7.63 |
Watermelon Beefsteak |
7.49 |
Tigerella Orange |
7.35 |
Martian Giant |
7.27 |
LA1482 |
6.12 |
Matt's Wild Cherry |
4.53 |