The Key to Growing Flavorful Produce

What is flavor?

The flavor of fruits, vegetables, and other crops comes from a combination of their taste and their scent. Produce gets its taste from non-volatile compounds, such as sugars and acids, and it gets its aroma from volatile compounds such as alcohols and ketones.

Here are some of the major contributing factors to the flavor of produce. Growers can utilize these factors to optimize the taste and aroma of their crops and sell the best tasting product.

Genetics

The most basic but tried-and-true method of ensuring your produce has a good flavor is using the right type of plant. Get the right seeds or breed your own unique tasting strain to guarantee that your produce tastes good and your customers will continue to buy it.

Lighting

Studies show that people prefer the taste of produce that has been grown in natural sunlight rather than artificial lighting. Sunlight offers the full range of the light wavelength spectrum, while artificial lighting offers only a few at a time.

However, if you grow indoors with LED light, research also shows that produce grown under blue light is tastier and more aromatic than fruit grown under other wavelengths.

Stress

Turns out that a bit of stress actually improves the flavor of produce. When crops are stressed, they produce more volatile compounds and have a stronger aroma.

Exposing your crops to a slight drought can make them more flavorful. Water scarcity leads plants to produce more flavor molecules and compounds.

Additionally, you don’t want to overload your plants with nutrients. More isn’t always better! Studies show that nutrient toxicity can lead to bad flavors.

Crop Yield

Reducing the number of fruits on a single plant will increase their flavor. When a plant has a high yield, it devotes less sugar to each piece of produce. The less fruits it grows, the more attention it can spend on the few produces.

Many growers choose breeds of plants that have a high yield, but keep in mind that those may not be the most flavorful varieties.

Harvest Time

The final step in the growing process is harvesting. The point at which you harvest your produce has a huge impact on how it tastes. The best time to harvest varies between crops, but you should consider factors such as ripeness, time of day, harvesting technique, and the desired shelf life.

If you want to boost the flavor of your crops using these techniques, a controlled environment system will help you unlock your flavor potential. TC Control Group’s CEA systems give you control over temperature, irrigation, nutrient fertigation, lighting, and much more. Utilizing TC Control Group’s control systems will help you find the perfect growing conditions to make the best tasting produce. Contact us today to get started on your journey to flavor.