In Florida, the keys to a better-tasting supermarket tomato were identified in a global study led by a University of Florida researcher. By studying alleles, the versions of DNA in a tomato gene that give it its specific traits, researchers identified the locations of the alleles in the tomato genome critical to better flavor. But, because breeding takes time, it may take three to four years to produce new tomato varieties.
“We’re just fixing what has been damaged over the last half century to push them back to where they were a century ago, taste-wise,” said Harry Klee, a professor of horticultural sciences, stressing that this technique involves classical genetics, not genetic modification. “We can make the supermarket tomato taste noticeably better.”
The U.S. is second only to China in worldwide tomato production. Florida and California account for two-thirds to three-fourths of all commercially produced fresh-market tomatoes in the U.S.