These are good times for Granada's tomatoes, specifically for five of its varieties: Huevo de Toro, Corazón de Cabrito, Rosa, Caqui and Ortega. Members of Graeco, Salvemos la Vega and the Seminar of Gastronomic and Oenology Studies (SEGE), together with researchers from the Departments of Nutrition and Food Science, Agricultural Chemistry and Soil Science of the University of Granada, have worked together with a common goal: to recover these local varieties and give them the value they deserve.
Despite it being a fairly large team, the weight of the project rests mostly on the shoulders of three researchers: María Luisa Lorenzo, Eduardo Ortega and Manuel Cala, who have been working for just over a year on this project that aims to recover not only the economic wealth that these tomato varieties generate, but also an environmental and social wealth.
The process has been carried out from scratch. "We have looked for the seed, we have been with the growers, have analysed the land, water, waste and the finished product," explains Manuel Cala, agronomist and president of Graeco. The purpose of the research is to test the characteristics of the five tomato varieties and give them added value.
These tomatoes are subject to many tests. "We will define the sweetness, colour, hardness, weight, pH and conductivity," specifies Eduardo Ortega, Professor of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry. The varieties will be physicochemically and organoleptically classified; or what is the same, on grounds of both their general and sensory characteristics (sweetness, juiciness, etc.).
After a thorough analysis there will be an analytical tasting panel. Maria Luisa Lorenzo is the head of the SEGE Tasting Panel. "The panel we are forming is like the regulatory board of a designation of origin, where the product is protected, guaranteed and promoted. This is not an designation of origin, but a quality seal," explains Maria Luisa, who also affirms that "we have already found that the taste and juiciness of these tomato varieties has nothing to do with what's already on the market. As soon as the consumer becomes aware of that, they too will prefer those tomatoes." The goal is not only the recovery and sale of the product to companies, but also to promote consumption at the place of production, i.e., in Granada.
