Factors Affecting Flavor

[feldon30]

Although you wouldn't tell it from going to any of the steakhouses in Houston, Texas actually has raisers of sheep/lambs and pork. I've had Texas lamb and it's fantastic, as good as Colorado lamb. And any time I can get Berkshire pork chops, I'm in heaven.

You'd be surprised what grows well in Texas. Citrus, Watermelons, Corn, and of course Tomatoes and Peppers.

[Love2Troll]

I would like to know more about how refrigerating vine-ripened tomatoes affects the taste.

Was just reading that refrigeration turns the starches in potatoes to sugars and ruins natural flavor. I had thought that refrigerating tomatoes turned the sugars into starches? Something doesn't sound right.

[geeboss]

old farmer said to cut back on watering after the breaker stage....indicated that more water will tone down the flavor/taste of the matter. Will see how this works in '09.

just can't wait to get them planted in the yard again will have SWC to make a comparison. ;-)

George

[Gerald51]

Originally Posted by geeboss

old farmer said to cut back on watering after the breaker stage....
George

I have already determined that I'm going to cut way back on watering my tomato plants this also. I know that field grown tomatoes taste alot better because they get less water.

BTW, what's "breaker stage"?

I read that using sulphate of potash makes tomatoes taste better, but that could be just bull.

[dr20s]

Here's some good information in this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYPvCOe91VI

also from: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...071900347.html

Why is it that people say it ruins a tomato to put it in the refrigerator? How can this be?


"It does sound strange, but there is some truth to it.

Some food sources warn that one should "NEVER, NEVER" refrigerate tomatoes because that will "kill the flavor." Others say that one of tomatoes' major flavor chemicals, (Z)-3-hexenal, "disappears" upon refrigeration. These warnings are oversimplified generalizations (or over-generalized simplifications; choose one).


It's true that (Z)-3-hexenal is the strongest fragrance among the 400 or so compounds that have been found in tomatoes' aroma. It imparts a grassy or "green" note to the fruit and is actually responsible for the odor of freshly cut grass. But it isn't destroyed by low temperatures. That would indeed be counterintuitive, which is why the refrigeration story sounds suspicious. Heat can decompose chemical compounds, but cold has never been accused of doing so.


Tomatoes can suffer what agronomists call "chilling injury" if held at temperatures below about 50 degrees. (The typical home refrigerator temperature is 40 degrees.) The nature and extent of the injury -- which mostly involves changes in the tomato's texture rather than its flavor -- depends not only on the temperature and duration of chilling but also on the fruit's ripeness. That's why no simple generalization can be made about the effect of refrigeration on tomatoes.

If a tomato is not fully ripened, refrigeration will stop the ripening process and prevent the development of its full flavor and color. That's the case with those offensive balls of tasteless plastic foisted upon us out-of-season by most supermarkets. Refrigerating them would certainly be adding injury to insult.


But red tomatoes -- fully ripened on the vine and fresh from the back yard or farm market -- are less subject to chilling injury and may therefore be kept in the refrigerator for a few days without any noticeable deterioration in flavor. Much longer than that, however, and their texture could become mealy. So if you like tomatoes ripe and cold, as I do, the tomato police won't arrest you for putting them in the fridge."

[feldon30]

I just know I'm horrified when someone tells me that the tomatoes I gave them immediately went into the fridge when they brought them home. Usually I won't go out of my way to give them any more unless they ask.

[Ruth_10]

Others say that one of tomatoes' major flavor chemicals, (Z)-3-hexenal, "disappears" upon refrigeration. These warnings are oversimplified generalizations (or over-generalized simplifications; choose one).

It's true that (Z)-3-hexenal is the strongest fragrance among the 400 or so compounds that have been found in tomatoes' aroma. It imparts a grassy or "green" note to the fruit and is actually responsible for the odor of freshly cut grass. But it isn't destroyed by low temperatures. That would indeed be counterintuitive, which is why the refrigeration story sounds suspicious. Heat can decompose chemical compounds, but cold has never been accused of doing so.

Ah, but there is a way that (Z)-hexenal could "disappear" or be destroyed at low temperature. The "en" part of hexenal refers to an unsaturated double bond (versus a saturated bond, which would be hexanal).

At any rate, hexenal can exist in either of two forms "Z" which stands for zusammen, which is German for "together" and "E", which stands for entgegen, or opposite. The E and Z forms often will interconvert based on thermal input.

Hexenal might need the warmth of the room to remain in the Z (tasty) form. In the fridge, it might revert to its more stable form, E, which might have less flavor. This would imply that the flavor would come back when it warmed up again. Dunno if this is the case.

[dr20s]

In this article,(http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpag...5BC0A96E948260) it says the system isn't destroyed, just temporarily turned off - so your prediction seems right:

As most anyone who grows tomatoes will tell you, the tomato tastes and smells best if it is picked, sliced and served - all within a few minutes. Such empirical knowledge has passed down through generations of gardeners, cooks, and tomato eaters. Now, chemists at the Department of Agriculture have confirmed this, and hope their work will point the way to enhancing the flavor of the scourge of the winter salad - the refrigerated tomato.

Ronald G. Buttery and colleagues at the department's research center in Albany, Calif., have identified an enzyme system that controls tomato smell. When a tomato is cut, linolenic acid is converted by enzymes into Z-3-hexenal. This chemical is largely responsible for fresh tomato smell. The researchers have also discovered that refrigerating a tomato turns off the enzyme system. A cold tomato sliced open is far less aromatic and less tasty, since taste and smell are so intertwined. Tomato lovers have known this for some time, too.

''If you warm the tomato to room temperature after refrigeration, the enzyme system is partly reactivated,'' Dr. Buttery said. ''If you leave it out for a few days, it will come almost completely back.''

But cooks will tell you that leaving a tomato out too long leads to other difficulties - rot and mold. That is where the Federal scientists' work comes in. ''We are trying to find out what temperature the tomatoes can be stored at without losing flavor,'' Dr. Buttery said. ''It's possible there may be a way around this flavor problem without the tomatoes going rotten, to have both refrigeration and flavor.''