The flavour panel of Wageningen UR Greenhouse Horticulture is now planning research on snack tomatoes (Santa tomatoes). A Santa is not a miniature tomato, but an oval shaped, crownless one-bite tomato of about 10 grams. Santas may be ribbed, have a definite bite and have a fresh, slightly acid flavour and are usually less juicy and aromatic than a good cherry. Santas are a healthy and convenient snack.
Breeders, growers and Wageningen UR Greenhouse Horticulture cooperate in the public private partnership “Tasty Marketing” to define good-flavoured Santas and develop a model for the prediction of the flavour level. Such a model will be a modification of the present tomato flavour model, in which the coefficients of the individual flavour parameters will be fine-tuned. With such a model, breeders and producers can target on the development of new successful Santas, of which optimal flavour and convenience will be the most important aspects. The use of evoked context in the product evaluation will be tested, because Santas are not regularly used in a culinary environment but rather as a snack.
Source: Wageningen UR