Kids, Tomatoes and Biodiversity

Spanish School Children playfully learn about biodiversity of tomatoes

TRADITOM scientist Mariola Plazas (UPV) explained the diversity of tomatoes to a third grade primary school class in Sagunto, Spain in April. The students were asked about their knowledge about different tomato varieties and interactively learned about the colors, shapes and sizes of tomatoes, their origin and how they changed their characteristics due to selection. One question the children had was: Why can’t we find all these tomatoes at a supermarket?

When talking about flavour, the highlight of this scholar activity was finding the supertasters in class, who can taste even the slightest bitterness. To do this, the 23 pupils not only tested their sense of taste but also colored their tongues in blue to count the number of taste buds.