By: Shai Leviatov / Tomato Team Manager / ShaiL@zeraim.co.il

Round, bright red and juicy is how most people in Europe and North America imagine a tomato. But for many in Mexico, South America, Africa and South Asia the common tomato has an elongated oval shape.

No matter whether the variety is known as Saladette (Mexico), Roma (Italy), Santa Cruz (Brazil) or plum tomato, they all use this type of tomato because of its unique qualities such as firmness, low water content and adaptability to suit their needs.

In recent years tomato consumers in the United States and in Western Europe have discovered the added value of this elongated tomato variety and its special versatility for salads, sandwiches and home cooking. The special qualities of these elongated tomatoes have opened new opportunities for consumers. The elongated tomato is taking its place on the supermarket shelf next to, and not instead of, the familiar round tomato.

Several years ago the tomato breeding team at Zeraim Gedera initiated programs for developing superior tomato varieties with healthy vigorous plants, resistant to a wide range of pathogens and producing high yields of top quality elongated tomatoes. Our goals and targets vary for each different market.

Elongated cherry tomatoes, which are sometimes called mini-plum, have recently taken the North American market by storm and are on their way to Western Europe. Whether served in individual packaging for school and work, small bowls on the dinner table for guests, restaurants and catering services, their delicious taste and attractive appearance make these fruit a perfect, tasty, refreshing and healthy snack. Golan Abend, who manages Zeraim Gedera’s entire cherry tomato program, is in charge of the development of elongated cherry tomato varieties. He is looking for high yield varieties adapted for growing in the Mediterranean region and in western Mexico, and which are also resistant to a wide range of pathogens and pests and will bear top quality, flavorful fruit.

It is important to note that the elongated cherry category includes numerous other fruit shapes such as, egg-shaped, elongated drop-shaped, ribbed rectangular-shaped, bottle-shaped and strawberry-shaped, among others. In a new era market as complex as the tomato market, large growers and many marketing Companies are always searching for their own mark of exclusivity. With a wide range of elongated cherry varieties, each with its unique qualities, we at Zeraim Gedera try to provide each farmer or marketing Company the option to select the varieties that best suit their needs and those of their customers.

Varieties with slightly larger fruit, known as midi-plum (40-60 gm) occupy an increasing market segment, with growing household demand for this size fruit. When developing these varieties, in addition to vigorous growth, short internodes, high yields and pest and disease resistance, Zeraim Gedera breeders pay special attention to the superior quality of the fruit, its firmness, color, shelf-life and flavor. Apparently the commercial market for larger fruit, known in Israel as the Tamar or plum tomato, has undergone dramatic changes in recent years. These changes stem from the fact that most Tamar tomatoes on the market so familiar to the Israeli public comes from industrial surplus, grown in open fields and during limited seasons. In recent years elongated tomatoes which do not originate from industrial surplus, have started to appear at vegetable stalls in the market and on supermarket shelves.

These are fruit varieties grown in greenhouses and other growing structures, which have been developed specially for this purpose. These tomato varieties, produced by Zeraim Gedera’s elongated tomato development program headed by the breeder Amit Shiftan, are suitable for growing in greenhouses allowing year-round production and supply. The level of fruit uniformity and quality is high compared with industrial varieties. The aim of the plum tomato (80-120gm) development program is to develop vigorous growth, suitability to target regions and growing seasons, short internodes and high yield with fruit of uniform size and shape, attractive color, good firmness and long shelf-life. Similar to the elongated cherry and mini-plum varieties, the large fruit group also has a few shape options; ranging from cube to rectangular shaped fruit, which is consumed mainly in South America and India, egg-shaped fruit familiar in Mexico and the United States and the more elongated fruit, similar to a cucumber, which is more common on the Italian market.

Bon appetite to everyone!