TheNaturePlanet

In the fresh produce section of the supermarket or at the fruit store on the street corner, you can always see Qingxia cherry tomatoes neatly arranged in exquisite fruit baskets! The round fruits have a coral-red luster, and the skin is so thin that the pulp inside can almost be seen through. This online celebrity fruit tomato that has become popular in the market in recent years has become a regular in many family fruit platters, thanks to its pleasing appearance and unique taste. However, faced with the sight of it on the shelves all year round, consumers inevitably have doubts: in what season is it most suitable to eat Qingxia cherry tomatoes? Is it really the "leader" with the highest sweetness among cherry tomato varieties as rumored?

The ripening season of Qingxia cherry tomatoes is closely related to the cultivation method. In the warm southern regions, such as Qingyuan in Guangdong and other places, farmers follow the natural rhythm and concentrate the main planting period in spring and autumn. Spring sowing usually starts from late March to early April. After a growth cycle of 50 to 60 days, the first batch of ripe fruits can be harvested from May to July.

The spring fruits at this time benefit from sufficient sunlight and a relatively dry climate, avoiding the frequent rainfall during the plum rain season. The sugar in the fruits can be fully accumulated, and the taste is rich and sweet. When you bite into it, you can clearly feel the breath of the sun in the pulp. Autumn planting takes place between August and October, and the harvesting period lasts from November to January of the following year. The cool temperature makes the fruits develop more slowly. The skin is as delicate as a cicada's wing, and the pulp is plump and juicy. According to the actual measurement on the farm, the cracking rate of the autumn fruits is as low as 3%. Both in terms of appearance and taste, it can be called an "excellent student".

With the development of agricultural technology, facility cultivation technology has broken the boundaries of seasons: the greenhouse greenhouses in places like Zhejiang and Shandong can achieve year-round supply of Qingxia cherry tomatoes through intelligent temperature control and precise irrigation. In winter, the geothermal system is used to maintain an appropriate temperature, and in summer, sunshade nets and water curtains are used to regulate the microclimate, allowing consumers to taste the sweetness from the trellis even in the middle of winter. However, for "gourmets" who pursue the natural flavor, the fruits that ripen naturally in spring and autumn always have a vivid flavor that is difficult to replicate in an artificial environment.

When it comes to sweetness, Qingxia cherry tomatoes perform amazingly. The sugar content of ordinary cherry tomatoes is usually between 6% and 8%. Even the popular "Millennium" variety in the market has a sugar content mostly between 9% and 12%, and the Busan 88, known as the "representative of high sweetness", can only reach about 12.8%. The regular sugar content of Qingxia cherry tomatoes is stably between 10% and 12%. In the 2024 "Good Tomato" selection event in Zhejiang, its representative variety "Qingxia 66" won the gold award and the special award with an extremely high sugar content of 15.2%, becoming the benchmark that "redefines the sweetness of fruit tomatoes" in the words of professional judges.

This kind of sweetness is not just a simple "cloying sweetness", but cleverly combines the unique aroma of tomato's fruit acid, forming a rich and multi-layered taste experience. The moment you bite through the skin, the warm sweetness like honey spreads on the tip of your tongue first, followed by a faint sour taste, as if injecting a soul into the sweetness, making the taste more three-dimensional and vivid.

In terms of seasonal characteristics, Qingxia cherry tomatoes have both the "limited edition" in spring and autumn as a gift from nature, and the "regular item" available throughout the year empowered by technology. The rich sweetness of spring fruits, the moisture of autumn fruits, the richness of winter fruits, and the bursting juice of summer fruits, the fruits in different seasons have their own charm, meeting diverse taste needs. When it comes to sweetness, both the detection data from authoritative competitions and the word-of-mouth spread among consumers confirm its top position in the cherry tomato category.