One of the serious problems that are ignored is that food is not as tasty as it used to be, especially fruits and vegetables. So what happened that we were forced to eat food that tasted like straw?
food The way we produce and consume It has undergone many changes in the last half century, which has markedly affected the taste of fruit and vegetables. Moreover, this situation is encountered not only in our country, but also in most parts of the world.
According to Clifford Weil, director of the National Science Association Plant Genome Research Program, the most important reason for this decrease in flavor “domestication”. So why do we tame our food at the expense of taste?
Take the example of the tomato, one of the vegetables (technically a fruit) whose flavor and aroma have declined the most over the years.
The aroma found in tomatoes consumed almost all over the world, sugar and acids that activate our taste buds, and a series of triggers that trigger our olfactory receptors. with volatile component determines. For this reason, it is often preferred as a sauce.
Tomato is an easily rotten vegetable while being transported over long distances and kept in storage. To prevent this, tomatoes are domesticated to withstand conditions.
But No genetic intervention was performed. According to Zhangjun Fei, a plant geneticist at Cornell University; Tomatoes and other foods lost their flavor genes, as plants with more yielding and more durable properties were preferred.
The gene that helps give tomatoes their flavor is absent in 93% of domesticated (modern) species.
International researchers collected the genomes of garden tomatoes and wild tomatoes and compared them to the domesticated tomato genome. This comparison shows that the modern tomato genome has approximately the same as that of garden and wild tomato. lacks 5,000 genes revealed that.
As frustrating as the truth revealed by these studies is, this discovery may bring the flavor of tomatoes, and even other foods, back in years to come.
real potatoes
This previously unknown genes have been identifiedcan help growers produce better vegetables and fruits. These missing genes are also transmitted to plants. because it also provides pathogen Tomato varieties with genetic resistance can be developed against diseases that can be overcome with pesticides or other high-cost and non-environmentally friendly methods used today.
Those who remember the true taste of vegetables and fruits continue to consume them by resorting to lesser-known methods.
ancestry seed They can find good products by bartering or in local markets in rural Anatolia. sold by the villagers They take care to buy the products.
Sources: Discover Magazine, Nature, Popular Science
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