Tomatoville® Gardening Forums


Notices

Member discussion regarding the methods, varieties and merits of growing tomatoes.

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old February 9, 2006   #1
greggf
Tomatovillian™
 
greggf's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Boonville, NY
Posts: 419
Default heirlooms are better for your health!

oops! I posted this in the Conversations area, but then saw that it would be more appropriate here, since "general" is where "merits of growing tomatoes" pieces should go:

Here's an article we all might like:

Smelling Good May Mean Its Good for You
AP ^ | 2/9/6 | RANDOLPH E. SCHMID


Posted on 02/09/2006 2:36:50 PM PST by presidio9


That fresh grassy smell wafting up from the newly sliced tomato may be its way of saying "I'm good for you."

Indeed, the odors from foods ranging from garlic and onions to ginger and strawberries may be nutritional signals that the human nose has learned to recognize.

"Studies of flavor preferences and aversions suggest that flavor perception may be linked to the nutritional or health value" of foods, researchers Stephen A. Goff and Harry J. Klee report in Friday's issue of the journal Science.

However, they caution, domestication of many vegetables has not been kind to them, tending to favor qualities like color, shape, yield and disease resistance instead of flavor and nutrition.

Flavor is complex and uniquely challenging to plant breeders, they note, and as a result has not been a high priority.

Take the tomato, for instance.

Klee and Goff analyzed two types of tomato, the wild cerasiforme and the commercially grown Flora-Duke.

Except for one chemical that also affects color, the sugars, organic acids and volatile compounds associated with tomato flavor were reduced in the commercial product.

For example, one of the volatile compounds associated with the "tomato" or "grassy" flavor is called cis-3-Hexenal, which is also an indicator of fatty acids that are essential to the human diet. They found that the wild tomato contained more than three times the amount of that chemical than the cultivated version.

Two other contributors to tomato flavor — 2- and 3-methylbutanal — are indicators of the presence of essential amino acids and are also three times more common in the wild tomato.

In addition to tomatoes, those chemicals are also important constituents of the flavors of apples, strawberries, bread, cheese, wine and beer, they reported.

Goff and Klee also noted that the scent compounds produced in many spices are associated with health properties.

For example, curcumin, which is present in tumeric, is reported to have anti-inflammatory properties, compounds in ginger have antioxidants and there are antimicrobial chemicals that contribute to the scent of onions, garlic, rosemary, sage, clove, mustard, chili peppers and thyme.

"A preference for the flavors found in these spices is believed to have developed due to the health benefit of less contaminated food," they conclude.

The odors of the compounds are of particular interest because they are a major factor in how taste of foods is perceived. The human tongue senses just five flavors — sweet, sour, salty, bitter and umami, sometimes called savory — and scent provides considerable added information about a food.
greggf is offline   Reply With Quote
Old February 9, 2006   #2
Catntree
Tomatovillian™
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Maine
Posts: 177
Default

I never doubted it!!!!!!

Thanks for the post
__________________
Zone 4/5
Catntree is offline   Reply With Quote
Old February 9, 2006   #3
greggf
Tomatovillian™
 
greggf's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Boonville, NY
Posts: 419
Default

It seems to be saying: the more flavor, the better it is for your health!

Holy cow, a prescription from the doctor for German Red Strawberry!

=gregg=
greggf is offline   Reply With Quote
Old February 9, 2006   #4
Grub
Tomatovillian™
 
Grub's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Sydney, Australia
Posts: 2,722
Default Lol

Lol Greg. Indeed.
Grub is offline   Reply With Quote
Old February 10, 2006   #5
gardenmama
Tomatovillian™
 
gardenmama's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: zone 7b/8a SE VA
Posts: 268
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by greggf
It seems to be saying: the more flavor, the better it is for your health!

Holy cow, a prescription from the doctor for German Red Strawberry!

=gregg=
I can just see my DH filling out his prescription pad now.

"Lycopersicon esculentum"
sig: eat one BID with meals.
DISP:Quantity 14,
to take to Farmer's Market for filling!
Refills: Unlimited!
If pt requests, may fill with 5 plants and share with family members.
Heirloom only


I wonder if the insurance companies would reimburse?
__________________
-Martha
SE VA
gardenmama is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 10:31 AM.


★ Tomatoville® is a registered trademark of Commerce Holdings, LLC ★ All Content ©2022 Commerce Holdings, LLC ★