Brix Nine is a specialty fruit tomato grown in areas including Ota City, Gunma Prefecture. The name “Brix Nine” refers to a sugar content of 9 degrees, and the tomatoes are cultivated with the goal of achieving a sugar content of 9 degrees or higher.
Compared with ordinary tomatoes, Brix Nine has a notably high sugar content, creating a flavor in which sweetness and umami are densely concentrated. Although relatively small, the tomatoes have firm flesh and can be enjoyed for their remarkably fruit-like sweetness.
In Ota City, Brix Nine tomatoes are grown using a cultivation method that reduces the amount of water supplied to the plants to nearly the minimum level.
By deliberately limiting water and placing the plants under a certain amount of stress, growers encourage a higher sugar concentration, allowing sweetness and umami to become concentrated in the fruit. This distinctive cultivation technique helps produce tomatoes with a sugar content that can reach approximately twice that of ordinary tomatoes.
One of the greatest attractions of Brix Nine is its rich sweetness that spreads with every bite. Its remarkably fruity flavor may feel quite different from that of an ordinary tomato, making it enjoyable almost like a piece of fruit.
The tomatoes are relatively small, but their flesh is firm and well-textured. Along with their rich sweetness, they retain a pleasant tomato-like acidity, creating an excellent balance between sweetness and tartness.
Brix Nine is in season from February through May. From winter through spring, it is enjoyed as a fruit tomato prized for its high sugar content and concentrated flavor.
With its high sugar content, firm flesh, and well-balanced combination of sweetness and acidity, Brix Nine offers a new way to enjoy tomatoes. It is a distinctive specialty of Ota City, created through the area’s unique cultivation techniques.