Please write down who ate which wild tomatoes, especially green-fruited ones. How edible, tasty, and poisonous they are. How to improve the taste with a good recipe, cooking, marinating, etc. How to make tasteless things tasty using culinary methods.
pimpinelifolium: Red. Bitter like lycopene. People love them. I don't.
cheesmaniae: yellow/orange. Fair taste.
galapagense: orange. Good taste, but not great.
pennellii: Not the slightest bit appealing.
habrochaites: Not pleasant to eat. Hairy. Bitter.
peruvianum: Can be sweet when very ripe. Nasty before then.
corneliomulleri: same as peruvianum.
What is about neorickii, chmielewskii, arcanum, huaylasense, chilense?
Quote from: Joseph Lofthouse on 2023-10-19, 09:59:19 PMpennellii: Not the slightest bit appealing.
Is it bitter?
Any side effects after eating?
Is it true: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bx64j_AbvWY "Solanum Pennellii Wild Tomato Is Poisonous"?
Joseph, I'm guessing your experiment was with fresh wild tomatoes, but what about cooked? For example, eggplant is bitter too, but after cooking it's good.
pimpinelifolium: no flavor of the accession i tried. People love them. I don't. Maybe others taste fine?
cheesmaniae: yellow/orange. Fair taste.
cheesmaniae-hybrids: good. Very nice.
galapagense: orange. Good taste, more interesting and bigger potential than cheesmaniae. Plants have odd smell like bug spray, which could affect flavor.
pennellii-hybrids: Not pleasant but not awful. Just not great. Green and sour-ish.
habrochaites: Not pleasant to eat. Hairy. Bitter.
chmielewskii: similar to habrochiates I think, not great. This species has some sugar genes though I think.
Quote from: Andrew Barney on 2023-10-20, 06:30:24 AMgalapagense: orange. Good taste, more interesting and bigger potential than cheesmaniae. Plants have odd smell like bug spray, which could affect flavor.
And maybe non-hairy variety has less smell, than hairy?
Cooking unripe domestic tomatoes doesn't make the poisonous taste go away. I expect that the wild tomatoes would act the same way.
But I cook unripe green domestic tomatoes. Solanine is absolutely easily accepted by the body. In general, various poisons come in one way or another with food, but they are harmless to a healthy body and are broken down by the kidneys and liver.
Lots of people talk about using green domestic tomatoes, either fried or pickled usually, and are enthusiastic about it. So I tried cooking some in a stir fry, the taste was fine, but a half hour later all green tomatoes insisted on leaving the building. So I'm saying they disagree with me, personally, and wouldn't be an option as a food.
Maybe likewise the sensitivity to toxins in wild tomato relatives may depend on your personal genetics.
I grew one Pimpinellifolium once, and the taste was so vile, I could not even choke down a single fruit. I had to spit it out. Perhaps like tomatoes, there is variation depending on the accession?
Or maybe it is my genetics, that makes the tomato family toxins especially nasty to me.
I noticed that some exotic flavored tomatoes with wild background, were not my favorites at all, while other tasters raved about them.
I also find that years of exposure to tomato plants and tomatoes has caused me to find the smell of large numbers of plants or ripe fruits somewhat repulsive. So my body/brain/senses are telling me there's something noxious there.
I get diarrhea from some store-bought US tomatoes, but I digest Mexican ones normally. The US tomatoes I grew up - I'm in the restroom all day. So this is not from toxins, but from the quality of tomatoes.
Quote from: Andrew Barney on 2023-10-20, 06:30:24 AMpennellii-hybrids: Not pleasant but not awful. Just not great. Green and sour-ish.
If we're talking about hybrids, then I can report that lyc x arc tastes pretty nice. A bit of that wheatgerm taste that pimp x pennellii has but nicer.
pimp x chm tastes great. Sweet. Well, I say 'great' - maybe I should reserve that qualification for the F2 but anyway I was impressed.
Oh, damn I forgot now if that faint wheatgerm was lyc x arc or pimp x chm! Anyway pimp x pen tasted strongly of wheatgerm. And had interesting soft texture similar to pure pen.
I ate 2 cheesmaniae today, one accession was so so and tough skin, one was softer or thinner skin and better tasting, good taste actually. Though might have some lyc in it. It's LA3124, flowers only under short day and fruit size like pure cheesmaniae but seed size is a bit big and grew in a way unlike lyc but also different to my other che acessions, vigorous growth.
Pimp also I don't much like.
Green fruited species, tried per pen hab chil chm arc, don't like any of them. Gal ok but so tiny and skin not appealing, not my preferred choice of food though lyc x gal was delicious. Only che x lyc (or might be lyc x che?) I tasted was one someone else supplied as supposedly pure che. Edible, but so so, not interesting for me. I expect will vary from accession to accession though. But does seem gal is better option than che for crossing for flavour, from my limited experience.
Tried only 1 pimp x lyc so far. Sweet. Didn't particularly excite me though - maybe in the F2.
Quote from: Alex on 2023-10-20, 05:37:04 PMI get diarrhea from some store-bought US tomatoes, but I digest Mexican ones normally. The US tomatoes I grew up - I'm in the restroom all day. So this is not from toxins, but from the quality of tomatoes.
Did you try organic heirloom tomatoes from shops? I wonder if might be agricultural chemicals...
These are definitely not chemicals because I grew them in my garden where I don't use chemicals. This is due to the fact that long-storing US tomatoes are not digested by the body, causing digestive disorders. Tomatoes that spoil quickly are soft, do not last long, and are digested normally. But I don't even risk buying US tomatoes, preferring those (not US) grown myself or at least Mexican ones, from which I have no side effects.
Quote from: Alex on 2023-10-20, 06:56:51 PMThese are definitely not chemicals because I grew them in my garden where I don't use chemicals. This is due to the fact that long-storing US tomatoes are not digested by the body, causing digestive disorders. Tomatoes that spoil quickly are soft, do not last long, and are digested normally. But I don't even risk buying US tomatoes, preferring those (not US) grown myself or at least Mexican ones, from which I have no side effects.
That would knock out organic, but the heirloom might still be valid as those are NOT long storing hybrid tomatoes, they go soft and rot quickly as well. They are literally the "old" tomato varieties we grew before modern plant breeding for long term storage.
Yes, old varieties or wild related are good. But the problem is that even the old varieties have lost their original properties, and it is very difficult to find good seeds.
What is about taste of neorickii, arcanum, huaylasense, chilense?
Quote from: Alex on 2023-10-21, 07:54:21 AMWhat is about taste of neorickii, arcanum, huaylasense, chilense?
I have not grown these species.
Chilense is not a species I could get to flower in my climate. I tried at least twice. I would need to grow it in a greenhouse or stimulate it with giberellens or fertilizer and lights to trick it into flowering early.
Based on HRseeds, a red variation of Solanum Arcanum is great for salads, eating fresh; and a cross between a Solanum arcanum and a Solanum pimpinellifolium have a really nice taste and go great in salads, eating fresh and for tomato sauce and paste. No information about wild green Arcanum.
Wild Tomato (Lycopersicon pennellii = Solanum pennellii) this is wild species native to Northern Peru (Piura) to northern Chile (Tarapacá) (dry rocky places and sandy areas at sea level to 3000 m = 10 000ft). It is very different species than others (with specific appearance) and it belongs to monotypic "Neolycopersicon group" – intermediate between tomatoes and potatoes. It is unknown in its fruits are edible or not, but they have rather not bad taste. (http://unusualediblesandtheirwildrelatives.blogspot.com/2019/06/wild-tomato-species-lycopersicon-spp.html)
Based on HRseeds:
Solanum cheesmaniae: Quite sweet without acidity.
Solanum galapagense (non-hairy type): The fruits are edible and delicious BUT may have a toxicity so grow it as an ornamental till further research is done. We have eaten them already and had no side affects.
Solanum galapagense (hairy type): The fruits are NOT edible and are said to be toxic so grow it as an ornamental till further research is done.
Solanum pimpinellifolium: The fruits are edible delicious.
Solanum chmielewskii: The fruits are edible and delicious BUT may have a toxicity so grow it as an ornamental till further research is done.
Solanum corneliomulleri: The fruits are edible and are ripe when fallen to the ground.
Solanum peruvianum: The fruits are edible but may contain some alkaloids when unripe.
Solanum habrochaites: The fruits are edible but may contain some alkaloids when unripe.
Solanum pennellii: It is not know if the fruits are edible or not so grow as an ornamental for now.
Why Solanum galapagense (hairy type) is not edible?
Quote from: Andrew Barney on 2023-10-20, 06:30:24 AMgalapagense: orange. Good taste, more interesting and bigger potential than cheesmaniae. Plants have odd smell like bug spray, which could affect flavor.
Did you eat hairy/non-hairy variety? Different taste?
How does the current generation of Neandermoto taste?
Based on HRseeds:
Solanum habrochaites (Lycopersicon hirsutum f. typicum): often pickled by locals
Based on Scirpidiella's Plants (http://unusualediblesandtheirwildrelatives.blogspot.com/2017/11/wild-tomatoe-species-lycopersicon-spp.html):
They are often edible and the taste of some species is much other than common tomato.
Solanum pimpinellifolium: the fruits have similar taste to common tomato, but they are more delicious (the taste is stronger).
Solanum cheesmaniae: fruits with taste similar to common tomato.
Solanum galapagense: very delicious with taste similar to common tomato.
Note: According to the context, the author grew both hairy and non-hairy varieties. So the information is about the taste of both of them.
Solanum habrochaites (Lycopersicon hirsutum f. typicum): the fruits are edible (in Equador they are pickled with an onion). Very delicious when fully ripe (with specific aroma and taste, very different than common tomato).
Solanum habrochaites (Lycopersicon hirsutum f. glabratum): the fruits are edible (in Ecuador they are pickled with an onion as previous form). Very delicious when fully ripe (with specific fruity aroma and taste).
Solanum peruvianum: the fruits are with acid taste and strong smell resembling something common tomato.
Solanum chmielewskii: very delicious, acidulous, with unusual aroma.
Quote from: Andrew Barney on 2023-10-20, 06:30:24 AMchmielewskii: similar to habrochiates I think, not great. This species has some sugar genes though I think.
More berry taste, than tomato flavor, seaweed flavor: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLGUclL3IqU
Solanum corneliomulleri:
My second favourite out of the Eriopersicon sub-section speceis. Very nice showy flowers, wide leaves. Almost entirely resistant to bugs. leaves become more scentless as the plant ages and the fruits are amazing. The fruits have the texture and feel of a tomato but the taste is like a very sweet cucumber. It may taste strange at first but the fruits became very addictive to me. If you ever get the chance to grow this one, take it from me, it is worth it👍.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4DsqmKyExiM
Solanum huaylasense:
Very similar to Solanum chilense. Has edible fruits that taste okay 👍.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXLnyzjmSGM
In my experience S.pimpinellifolium, S.spontaneum (S. pimpinellifolium var. ribeosdes) is so-so if it is not ripe, but if it is ripe and overripe, then it has an excellent taste of juice, but only juice, the pulp is so-so, a bit harsh. It will be better preserved than fresh. S. pimpinellifolium var. humboldtii is not bad when it is red, not pink.
In my experience, S.pennellii tomato has the taste of unripe gooseberries, but not sour, but slightly bitter like wormwood. The bitterness is very weak. The peel of the fruit tastes like the peel of an unripe Jamaican cherry, which is an exact analogy. Tasteless, but not inedible or poisonous, no side effects noted. Not for everyone. Many people on our island love bitter cucumbers, as well as Jamaican cherries, even unripe ones. There is no tomato taste.
Quote from: Alex on 2024-01-30, 01:00:44 AMIn my experience S.pimpinellifolium, S.spontaneum (S. pimpinellifolium var. ribeosdes) is so-so if it is not ripe, but if it is ripe and overripe, then it has an excellent taste of juice, but only juice, the pulp is so-so, a bit harsh. It will be better preserved than fresh. S. pimpinellifolium var. humboldtii is not bad when it is red, not pink.
I would add that these overripe tomatoes are much tastier than store-bought ones and many times better than those grown on our island. They are not perfect, but compared to what we have on sale, they are much better. Only overripe S.pimpinellifolium is normal, unripe one is so-so.
In my experience
S.cheesmaniae from Joseph has a faint, strange taste that can only be felt after eating a lot of fruits. Many people don't feel it at all. HRseeds has an unreleased gal148 F1 hybrid, which exhibits this identical strange flavor very strongly.
Joseph's Improved Wild Galapagos Tomato (S.galapagense): small-fruited phenotype has no taste, large-fruited phenotype has little taste and looks like not pure S.galapagense.
Quote from: Joseph Lofthouse on 2023-10-19, 09:59:19 PMhabrochaites: Not pleasant to eat. Hairy. Bitter.
I don't feel any bitterness, but rather a berry taste. Skin has a vegetable flavor. They should be eaten 2 weeks - 1 month after falling.
Quote from: Alex on 2024-05-16, 09:35:12 AMJoseph's Improved Wild Galapagos Tomato (S.galapagense): small-fruited phenotype has no taste, large-fruited phenotype has little taste and looks like not pure S.galapagense.
Yes, it is a mix of hybrids. Different sizes of fruits, seeds, taste. Not "Improved".