Tomato Cultivar Evaluation: Appearance and Taste Test Results

In 2022-23, we evaluated early maturing, large, red, slicing, determinate tomatoes at two locations in Pennsylvania. You can find articles about yields and size of the tomatoes here: Tomato Cultivar Evaluation: Marketable Yield and Tomato Cultivar Evaluation: Tomato Fruit Size.

In 2023, we conducted a sensory evaluation of 13 tomato cultivars. At their August 2023 meeting, Centre County Master Gardeners evaluated the appearance and taste of the tomatoes.

Tomato Cultivars Evaluated

The tomato cultivars we included in the evaluation were 'Red Deuce', STM 2255, 'Red Snapper', 'Thunderbird', 'Carrie', FTM 9743, FTM 9744, FTM 9745, 'Rambler', 'Patsy', 'Mountain Fresh Plus', 'Roadster', and 'Mountain Gem'.  

Demographics

Thirty-seven Master Gardeners participated. Of them, 60% were older than 65, and 32% were between 55 and 64. Thirty-five were women, and two were men. Additionally, 57% reported eating tomatoes frequently. The rest ate tomatoes sometimes. This demographic information is important because it points to who the results may represent. Our findings apply to women older than 55 who eat tomatoes at least sometimes. We acknowledge the limitations of these data. However, it provides additional information when determining which tomatoes to grow.

Data Analysis

Data were analyzed by graduate students in the Department of Statistics at Penn State University.

Tomato Appearance

The Master Gardeners rated tomatoes based on the appearance of the whole fruit and fruit cut length- and widthwise. 'Red Deuce' was used as the standard for the study.

The Master Gardeners rated 'Mountain Gem', FTM 9745, 'Red Snapper', and 'Thunderbird' lower than 'Red Deuce' on the appearance of whole tomatoes. All other cultivars were not rated differently than 'Red Deuce'. We need to mention that we observed some pointed tomatoes from FTM 9743, FTM 9744, and FTM 9745 plants. (You can see pictures of the tomatoes here: Tomato Cultivar Evaluation: Marketable Yield. We used tomatoes that did not have a pointed end in the evaluation.

For lengthwise appearance, 'Mountain Fresh Plus' was rated higher than 'Red Deuce'. All other cultivars were not rated differently than 'Red Deuce'.  

When Master Gardeners evaluated widthwise appearance, 'Red Deuce' was rated higher than STM 2255, 'Rambler', and 'Thunderbird' and lower than FTM 9743.

Tomato Taste

The Master Gardeners also tasted the tomatoes. They rated FTM 9744 as tasting better than 'Red Deuce'. All other cultivars were not rated differently than 'Red Deuce'.

When they considered the overall liking of the tomatoes, all cultivars were not rated different than 'Red Deuce'.

Conclusion

Based on the appearance of whole tomatoes, most of the tomatoes we evaluated were rated not differently than 'Red Deuce'; however, 'Mountain Gem', FTM 9745, 'Red Snapper', and 'Thunderbird' were rated lower than 'Red Deuce'. As noted, we observed FTM 9743, FTM 9744, and FTM 9745 tomatoes that were pointed when we evaluated yield. We only included round tomatoes in this evaluation.

Considering flavor, FTM 9744 was ranked higher than all other cultivars, including 'Red Deuce'. All other cultivars were not rated differently than 'Red Deuce'.

For the overall liking of the tomatoes, all the cultivars were not significantly different from 'Red Deuce'.