Tuesday, September 29, 2026
Science

Wild tomatoes still hold the flavor we bred away: New map shows breeders where to look

Modern tomatoes are a breeding success story. Generations of selection have made them bigger, firmer, more productive and easier to ship. But that progress came at a cost. Domestication and breeding reduced much of the crop's genetic diversity, and flavor has proven stubbornly hard to breed back in.

Wild tomatoes still hold the flavor we bred away: New map shows breeders where to look
Image: Phys.org
Modern tomatoes are a breeding success story. Generations of selection have made them bigger, firmer, more productive and easier to ship. But that progress came at a cost. Domestication and breeding reduced much of the crop's genetic diversity, and flavor has proven stubbornly hard to breed back in.

Originally published at Phys.org

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