
Researchers have discovered that cold “greatly reduces flavor quality” by affecting a tomato’s genetics. So it is advised that you shouldn't do it. This came up from University of Florida study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences looking at the effects of refrigeration on flavor compounds — especially aromatic “volatiles” — in tomatoes.
This is how the scientists did it!
Scientists gathered an array of ripe tomatoes — supermarket kinds as well as heirlooms — and chilled them between one and seven days. Each tomato then got either a one- or three-day recovery period at room temperature. Briefer chilling periods had little impact on volatiles, but that weeklong stint in cold storage dramatically reduced volatiles for either recovery period.
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