Posts Tagged: UC Davis Department of Plant Sciences

Discovery could deliver vintage flavor to a tomato near you

People often complain about grocery store tomatoes, saying they’re too hard and don’t have the flavor we remember from the days of old. And we thought we knew why - because the millions of tons of tomatoes harvested in the United States and...

Unripe cantaloupe? Could be, the electronic nose knows

You know how it works: You stand in the grocery aisle, surreptitiously sniffing the cantaloupes, hoping your nose will lead you to a nice, ripe selection. But when you slice it open in your kitchen, it’s just not as ripe as you had hoped....

UC Davis plant breeding: nurturing a rare breed

While working in Tanzania on community development projects several years ago, Iago Lowe came to a life-changing conclusion: Food security is central to projects that make a lasting difference in people's well-being. It ensures that communities have the...

I say tomato!

Here we are, a month into summer, and one of my favorite fruits is starting to emerge: Luscious tomatoes, fresh off the vine. I know, most of us treat tomatoes like a vegetable in the kitchen, slicing and dicing them into dishes that are savory rather...

Why does my pesto turn brown?

I don’t know if plant scientists make better chefs, but knowledge of plant science can certainly improve our cooking. Take, for example, understanding how to handle oxidation, the interaction between oxygen molecules and all the many substances they may...