(单词翻译:单击)
You may have been told that putting tomatoes in your fridge will ruin them. It turns out, that's kind of true.
你可能听说过把西红柿放在冰箱里会毁了它们。事实证明确实如此。
Scientists have shown that reducing a tomato's temperature to below 20°C alters its gene expression,
科学家发现，将番茄的温度降低到20℃以下会改变其基因表达，
which in turn reduces its yummy tomato smell.
这反过来又减少了它的西红柿气味。
So putting tomatoes in the fridge actually does make a lot of their ripe, juicy flavor disappear!
所以将西红柿放进冰箱确实会让它们成熟多汁的味道消失！
You might think a food's flavor is determined by the specific mix of chemicals that lands on your tongue.
你可能会认为食物的味道是由舌头品尝到的混合化学物质所决定的。
And it is partially. But by definition,
这只是部分原因。但根据定义，
flavor is the overall impression you get from consuming a food or beverage,
味道是你从食物或饮料中获得的整体印象，
an impression which results from both taste and smells.
这种印象是味觉和嗅觉的结果。
There are only a handful of distinctive tastes that your taste buds can differentiate:
味蕾能够区分出的味道仅有几种：
sweet, salty, sour, bitter, and umami. Scents, on the other hand, are practically limitless.
甜、咸、酸、苦和鲜。而另一方面，气味实际上是无限的。
Some research suggests the average person's nose can distinguish between one trillion different odors,
一些研究表明普通人的鼻子可以区分一万亿不同的气味，
and all that variety could explain why scent is the largest determinant of flavor.
并且所有这些都可以解释为什么气味是味道的最大决定因素。
It's like when you were a kid and your parents made you eat something you didn't like,
比如，小时候你的父母让你吃一些你不喜欢的东西，
and you would hold your nose while you downed it.
而你只好捏着鼻子吞下。
Plugging your nose and blocking the smell of something is actually enough to seriously diminish the flavor
堵住鼻子和阻止气味实际上足以大幅减少这种味道
because flavor is so reliant on smell. Which brings us back to those tomatoes.
因为味道非常依赖于气味。这让我们又回到了西红柿的问题。
A tomato's flavor is the result of a combination of tasty sugars and acids,
西红柿的味道是美味的糖和酸
as well as chemicals called aroma compounds, the molecules that easily leap into the air to give things their distinct smell.
以及被称为香气成分的化学物质结合的结果，这些分子很容易跃入空气，赋予事物独特的气味。
And even after picking, the fruit continues to make some of these and break down others.
甚至在采摘之后，水果还会继续产生这些物质，并分解其他物质。
It's still full of living cells, so the overall flavor of the tomato can change over time.
其中仍然有着满满的活细胞，所以西红柿整体的味道会随时间而改变。
In a 2016 study, when researchers put ripe tomatoes in the fridge for 7 days,
在2016年的一项研究中，研究人员将成熟的西红柿放入冰箱7天，
volunteers rated the taste of those chilled tomatoes as much less yummy than fresh ones.
志愿者对这些冷藏西红柿进行评估并认为它们没有新鲜西红柿美味。
But the sugar and acid levels, those key components of taste, didn't differ between the fresh and chilled fruits.
但这种味道的关键成分—糖分和酸度，在新鲜水果和冷藏水果之间并没有什么不同。
What did change were those aroma compounds: refrigerated tomatoes produced 65% less of them.
发生变化的是那些香气成分：冷藏西红柿所产生的香气成分要少65%。
That led the team to conclude that the change in the tomato's flavor is caused by a reduction in its odor molecules,
该团队因而得出结论，西红柿味道的改变是由气味分子的减少所导致的，
not due to a change in its actual taste! When they dug deeper,
而不是因为味道真的发生了改变！当他们深入探究时，
they found that the refrigerated tomatoes had reduced expression of genes related to the synthesis of certain molecules,
他们发现冷藏西红柿中和某些分子合成相关的基因表达减少了，
including branched amino acids, fatty acids and esters, three key compounds that are important for aroma compound synthesis.
包括支链氨基酸、脂肪酸和酯类，这三种是气味物质合成的关键物质。
The researchers hypothesized that this could be an evolutionary response for conserving energy when it is cold,
研究人员推测，这可能是一种进化反应，以在遭遇寒冷的时候保存能量
though they'd need further evidence to confirm that idea.
虽然他们仍需进一步证据证实这个想法。
It's not just tomatoes that are ruined by refrigeration, of course.
当然，不仅仅是西红柿会被冰箱毁掉。
You might have noticed that a lot of different fruits seem to taste worse after a stint in the fridge,
你或许注意到了，很多不同水果冷藏后的味道就没那么好了，
but this is generally thought to be because lower temperatures halt the ripening process.
但我们通常认为这是因为低温阻止它们的成熟过程。
As a fruit ripens, it produces different aroma compounds, and it gains sugars and other tasty molecules.
随着水果的成熟，它会产生不同的气味物质，还会增加糖分和其他美味的分子。
So the less ripe a fruit is, the less yummy it will be.
所以水果越成熟，越好吃。
But if you take these fruits out of the fridge and put them on the counter,
但如果你将这些水果从冰箱里拿出来，并把它们放在柜台上，
they will start ripening again and recover most of their flavor.
它们将开始再次成熟并恢复大部分的味道。
And once they're ripe, you're supposed to be able to put them back into the cold
一旦成熟，你就可以将它们再放进冰箱
to keep them at that tasty sweet point for longer.
以将它们的美味保存得久一点。
But the researchers in this study weren't starting with under-ripe tomatoes, they were starting with ripe ones.
但这项研究中的研究人员使用的并不是没有熟的西红柿而是成熟的西红柿。
So the loss of flavor wasn't because they prevented them from becoming fully ripe.
所以味道的消失并不是因为他们阻止了西红柿的成熟。
And taking the tomatoes out of the fridge didn't fully fix things.
把西红柿从冰箱里拿出来也于事无补。
So basically, there's no point in a tomato's ripening process where you can refrigerate them without losing flavor.
所以在西红柿的成熟过程中，你没有必要为了不让味道流逝而将它们放进冰箱。
It's possible, or even likely, this kind of cold-induced flavor loss happens in other ripe fruits, too.
或许这种寒冷导致的味道流逝也会发生在其他成熟水果中。
But as of yet, no one has really looked. Either way, if you want the best-tasting produce,
但到目前为止，还没有人真正看过。不管怎样，如果你想要味道最好的产品，
you should probably leave your fruits on the counter until they are ripe, and never ever put your tomatoes in the fridge.
或许你应该把你的水果放在外边直到它们成熟，绝不要把你的西红柿放进冰箱。
Though, if you really want the tastiest tomatoes, you should probably go for more colorful ones,
如果你想吃到最美味的食物，你应该选择颜色更加丰富的水果，
because the rosiest red tomatoes you see in stores just don't taste as good.
因为你在店里看到的玫瑰红色西红柿味道没那么好。
Check out our episode on Why Tomatoes Are So Bland to find out why!
观看我们的视频《Why Tomatoes Are So Bland》寻找其中的原因！
And as always, thanks for watching, and don't forget to subscribe!
感谢收看，不要忘记订阅我们的频道！
