This simple step could improve the taste of tomatoes

Supermarket tomatoes are often criticized for their lack of farm-fresh flavor, but a simple change involving hot water could help bridge that gap.

New research has found that dipping under-ripened tomatoes in 125-degree water for five minutes and then letting them cool at room temperature before shipping as usual, produces a much more flavorful end product.

Chilling the fruit is known to inhibit flavor which is why people are advised not to put them in the refrigerator.

"But hot water-treated fruit actually produced higher concentrations of these important aroma contributors, even with subsequent chilling," stated one of the researchers.

Tomatoes are typically shipped to stores in cool 41 to 55-degree temperatures.

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