Commercially produced modern tomatoes have many desirable agronomic traits such as shelf life, disease resistance and yield; however, consumers consider them less flavorful than most locally produced heirloom varieties. This flavor deficiency is due to a cumulative loss of superior alleles affecting flavor volatiles while breeding for other traits. The lack of breeder focus on the consumer is largely due to the genetic complexity of the flavor phenotype as well as a lack of a simple assay that can define consumer preferences. Tomato flavor is a result of interactions between sugars, acids and aroma volatiles, with volatile compounds giving the tomato fruit its characteristic aroma and flavor. We have measured 68 potential flavor-associated chemicals in over 550 tomato varieties, including modern, heirloom and ancestral tomato accessions. Over 150 of these varieties were evaluated by a large consumer panel for fruit flavor quality traits including overall liking. This analysis permitted us to determine which chemicals in the fruit correlate with consumer preferences. In addition, Genome Wide Association Studies (GWAS) identified loci associated with altered levels of acids, sugars and aroma volatiles. We have used marker-assisted breeding to introgress favorable loci from heirloom parents into modern tomato varieties. Introduction of several flavor loci into a modern tomato variety has resulted in improved flavor as assessed by consumers.

Biochemical and genetic approaches to improving tomato flavor quality

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ACS Fall 2022

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.