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Old November 23, 2019   #4
bower
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Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Newfoundland, Canada
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They look great Shule! Are you sure you wouldn't taste one, just to see if they're still as good?
Fruit that are harvestable post frost would obviously be a fantastic trait for breeding with, as long as they don't have some nasty flavor change.
The biochemistry of frost tolerance is interesting. It often involves the production of secondary substances which act like an 'anti-freeze' to prevent cells from freezing. This is a cool thing, but some of those substances are in fact nasty ("putrecine" comes to mind) - different plants use different things that they have recipes for in the genetic code. Iirc tomatoes themselves don't have any code for antifreeze substances. No idea what is in their wild relatives, but a taste test is a good idea... just in case. Tiny bites, natch!



I think the cheesmani is a very cool thing to grow btw, whether their frosty fruit are good to eat or not. Even more if they are.
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