Have you ever noticed the difference between store-bought tomatoes and home grown tomatoes? The common misunderstanding is that store-bought tomatoes do not taste as good because the they are not ripened on the vine. When really, most all of the tomatoes you buy are not harvested ripe.
Why Don’t My Store-Bought Tomatoes Taste Good?
What really happens is that tomatoes can ripen off of the vine since they are climacteric, but there is a specific maturity stage that they have to reach in order to continue maturing normally, regardless of whether or not they are still on the vine. The issue with most of the tomatoes currently sold at the grocery store is that the growers harvest the green tomatoes early before they meet that specific maturity stage, which results in a poor taste and different texture compared to a tomato that is harvested after this specific maturity stage.
How Tomato Ripening Works
The USDA Tomato Color Chart breaks down the six main stages of tomato ripening as follows:
Within the “Green” stage, the surface of the tomato is green. However, this specific stage is further broken down into four categories, in order to classify the maturity stage where tomatoes will continue maturing normally after they are harvested.
- M-1 – White seeds (immature) that can be cut through when the tomato is sliced, no gel in the locule
- M-2 – Tan seeds (mature), gel formation in at least two of the locules
- M-3 – Seeds move to the side when the tomato is cut, all locules have gel, green internal color
- M-4 – Red color in the gel and pericarp tissue
In the example below, you can see the difference between an immature green tomato (on the left) and a mature green tomato (on the right).
How to Get Tomatoes to Ripen Properly?
Tomatoes have to reach the “M-3” stage on the vine in order to continue ripening properly once harvested. This concept applies to both tomatoes grown at a commercial operation and to those grown in your garden at home. Issues arise when tomatoes are harvested prior to this, resulting in poor flavor and changes in texture. This is what causes you to be able to taste the difference.
To give you some perspective, an average of 97% of tomatoes are shipped green. The other 3% advance to the “Breakers” stage prior to harvest and shipment. Since tomatoes are harvested green, the harvesters cannot cut through each tomato to determine which maturity level they are, which can result in a range of 20 – 80% of immature tomatoes (M-1 or M-2) being picked. However, it is also important to understand that they are harvested green in order to be able to withstand all of the postharvest handling required to deliver a fresh tomato to the grocery store.
If you enjoyed this post, here are some other articles that may be of interest:
- The Making of Sun Dried Tomatoes
- Stop Ripening Wrong: Climacteric vs. Non-Climacteric Fruit
- What’s the Difference Between Fruits & Vegetables?
Resource:
USDA. (2008). Tomatoes: Shipping Point and Market Inspection Instructions. USDA Agricultural Marketing Service.
Thank you produce nerd!!
Generally speaking, tomatoes average 95%+ water content. If commercial tomatoes were not harvested at the mature-green stage they would be juice by the time they arrived at the distant market/end-user. The harvesting, handling, rinsing, grading, boxing, etc, stages are exceedingly arduous on such tender produce items – especially for tomatoes.
If any reader has ever physically followed commercial tomatoes from the field, into the truck where harvesters empty their hand-held buckets, to the packing shed, through their brief stay inside ripening rooms, through truck loading, transportation! [ e.g., from production fields in south Florida to markets in Toronto, Canada, or, from winter production fields in southern Mexico to markets in British Colombia, Canada, during the winter season ], unloading, handling to display in retail, one would readily recognize that to harvest commercial field grown mature-green tomatoes with any hint of pink would prove the kiss-of-death…the tomatoes would be juice by the time they reached distant markets.
Post-harvest handling of tomatoes is not child’s play…it is exceedingly rigorous, to say the least. When buying tomatoes at the grocery store one may be advised to purchase tomatoes that are still firm and pink.
Take them home, place them in a paper bag, place the bag in a bowl on your counter-top [ NOT in direct sunlight ], monitor them twice per day and allow the fruit to ripen inside that nice convenient cozy ripening room [ the bag ] to the red stage and firmness that is appealing to the purchaser.
Note: wholesale companies and retail stores are NOT in the ripening business. They are in the distribution business. If wholesalers and retailers ripened fruit [ of any kind ] they would be distribution nectar and juice…their shrinkage volumes would SKY-rocket!
Be your own ripener and allow your fruit [ tomatoes included ] to ripen to the stage that is YOUR preference. Wholesalers and retailers can not be responsible to sell ripe fruit to fit everyone’s preferred ripening stage. They are in the distribution business.
So, when it is wintery outside, even though your tomatoes may have been harvested 2,000+ miles away, you still have the opportunity to ripen fruit to as close to your preferred stage as is physically possible. One can be grateful that even in the dead of winter one still has the ability, the means and the luxury to enjoy fresh vegetables and fruit. One may also be thankful to the many-many-many laborers, handlers, graders, packers, drivers, stores, warehouse personnel, etc, etc, who provide us this fruit year-round if one fully understands what an arduous, time-dependent and complex journey these tender fruits have endured. Thank you very much –
This was a great article with a lot of good information. I think Mr. Sorensen took it way out of context. He almost makes it sound like she was talking bad about wholesalers and retailers, which is definitely not the case. The article consists of factual information that people need to know about. I love the blog so far and will be tuning in every week for her posts!
Thank you for the informative article giving us the need to pick green tomatoes in order to get them safely to the consumer. I appreciate the article.
I am so glad I met you at Machado’s yesterday! This article about tomatoes was the first one I came, and I’m so glad! My husband refuses to buy tomatoes at the grocery. The mealy texture and lack of taste really gets to him. We grow our own. I don’t eat raw tomatoes (probably for the same reason), but when we were in Sicily I ate them any way they were presented! I loved them.
Again, thank you for all your knowledge!
Thank you, Patricia! It was great to meet you as well!
Thank you for the information I always wondered why the store bought tomatoes do not taste as good as the garden picked tomatoes, it makes sense now.
Thank you, Anita! I’m happy to hear that!
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