Choosing between 5-lobed or 6-lobed tomatoes when buying

Tomato is a highly nutritious food that is rich in vitamin A, C, and other minerals. Tomato can be eaten raw like a fruit, but it is commonly used in a variety of delicious dishes.

Tomatoes are sweet and juicy with thin skin and a lot of flesh, but not everyone knows how to choose good tomatoes. So, when buying tomatoes, what should you look for, the ones with 5 segments or 6 segments?

Should you choose tomatoes with 5 segments or 6 segments?

If you carefully observe the tomatoes being sold, you will see that fresh tomatoes with stems attached often have clusters of 5 or 6 segments.

According to Dr. Nguyen Hong Hanh, Lecturer at the Department of Agriculture, Vietnam Agriculture Academy, the number of segments on the stem is not related to the quality of the tomato.

“Beef tomatoes are a European variety with large, firm, seedless, and thick flesh. Beef tomatoes are an infinitely grown variety in high-tech greenhouses that can withstand weak light. Ripe Beef tomatoes have large fruits, dark red color, plenty of flesh, and a delicious aroma, so they taste better raw than regular tomatoes. Beef tomatoes with larger fruits often have 6 segments, which may be why many people assume that tomatoes with 6 segments taste better than those with 5 segments,” Dr. Hanh explained.

Therefore, when choosing tomatoes, we don’t need to pay too much attention to whether they have 5 or 6 segments. We just need to observe the color and shape of the fruit to select fresh and delicious tomatoes.

Tomatoes with 5 and 6 segments.

How to choose fresh and delicious tomatoes

The color of the tomato

When buying tomatoes, choose ones with natural red color, rather than ones with pink or slightly yellow color. Due to different levels of sunlight exposure on the fruit, the surface color of the tomato varies, usually with a red color tinged with yellow. However, you should also be cautious as beautiful, bright red tomatoes are often overripe or treated with ripening agents and hormones.

During the growth process, tomatoes absorb sunlight and nutrients. The stem part of the fruit will be shaded, so this part will have a less even distribution of color, appearing lighter than the rest. If you see evenly ripe tomatoes, pay attention and avoid choosing those with consistent color in the stem part.

Observe the color to choose fresh and delicious tomatoes.

Size and weight

Choose round tomatoes, as tomatoes that have been treated with hormones tend to be deformed. Look at the bottom of the tomato. If the bottom is concave, it is a naturally ripe tomato. If the bottom protrudes, it is likely that the tomato has been treated with hormones to ripen quickly. 

Among tomatoes of similar size, the one that feels heavier and firmer when held is usually tastier. Some tomatoes may appear large, but they feel light when held because they have a very low water content, which makes them less tasty, so it is not advisable to buy them.

Check the elasticity

Gently squeeze the tomato and a naturally ripe tomato should feel soft and elastic inside. On the contrary, tomatoes that have gone through forced ripening or hormone treatment will feel firm and have a beautiful bright red color, but the flesh inside will still be green and without liquid.

Source: VTC.vn