Rutgers Researchers Create a Brand New Tomato

Just like millions of other people, I love tomatoes. After all, one of the things New Jersey is known for is our tomatoes.

They go with everything. In a salad, on a sandwich, for creating sauce, or making soup, to name a few. You can grill them, roast them, sauté them, sundry them, or roast them. They even make a healthy juice.

You need them for pizza, salsa, and ketchup. There are so many uses for tomatoes, and there are so many to choose from.

Perhaps you didn’t know (I didn’t know) that there are over ten thousand different varieties of tomatoes. Can you name them? GO!

Ok, maybe not. However, you can add one more to the many types you already know. It’s called the “Scarlet Sunrise” tomato, and it comes from our neighbors right up the street at Rutgers University.

According to the Rutgers website, the Scarlet Sunrise has been in development for about thirteen years, when Rutgers researchers Peter Nitzsche and Tom Orton at the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences got the idea to combine the traits of a red grape and a cherry tomato.

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Their combination is “a sweet, crack-resistant tomato with a golden hue and a reddish blush.” They say its name is evocative because it’s inspired by the New Jersey skies.

You can check out the new creation when it’s on display at their Open House and Tomato Tasting event on August 27^th at their Snyder Research and Extension Farm in Pittstown, New Jersey. The event is from 1 to 7 on Locust Grove Road, where you’ll be able to taste over fifty types of tomatoes.

The tasting experience will also include “wagon tours, educational displays, and support from Rutgers Master Gardeners, who help harvest and serve the fruit.”

The Scarlet Sunrise tomato plants now grow to over six feet tall, and they’re working on “more compact plants without sacrificing flavor.”