Color And Flavor: Pigments Play a Role in Creating Tasty Tomatoes
Published:12 Jul.2021 Source:University of Tsukuba
The flavor of a tomato is an interaction between its taste and aroma. Now, researchers from Japan and the United States have revealed that the pigments that determine the colors of tomatoes also affect their flavor. In a study published this month, researchers from University of Tsukuba developed a new method to rapidly measure the pigment profiles of tomatoes and used the technique to explore how pigments affect the taste and aroma of different tomato varieties.
The color of tomatoes is produced by combinations of different types of pigments, including carotenoids and chlorophylls. These pigments can also affect the accumulation of flavor-related compounds such as sugars, which affect the taste of tomatoes, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which determine the aroma. As tomato fruits ripen from green to red, the amounts of pigments and flavor-related compounds change but until now the relationship between color and flavor has been unclear.