Tomato
The tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) is a vegetable/botanical fruit, or specifically, a berry (but not a fruit as ordinary people use the word).[2]
| Tomato | |
|---|---|
| |
| Cross-section and full view of a hothouse (greenhouse-grown) tomato | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | |
| (unranked): | |
| (unranked): | |
| (unranked): | |
| Order: | |
| Family: | |
| Genus: | |
| Species: | S. lycopersicum
|
| Binomial name | |
| Solanum lycopersicum | |
| Synonyms | |
|
Lycopersicon lycopersicum (L.) H. Karst. | |
It is shiny and smooth. It has many small seeds. It is also very good for health. Most tomatoes are red. The tomato is green when it is unripe. It slowly changes color from green to red as it gets ripe, and as it gets ripe it gets bigger and bigger. There are many different types of tomatoes. Some kinds of tomato are yellow or orange when they are ripe. Tomatoes are used a lot in Italian food. They are also used to make ketchup. Tomatoes are called fruit, because they contain seeds. Tomato seeds get spread around by being eaten by animals. After being eaten the seeds pass through the animal's digestive system. Although tomatoes are really fruits, many people call them vegetables and treat them like vegetables when they cook.
History
The tomato is native to western South America. Wild versions were small, like cherry tomatoes, and most likely yellow instead of red. The Spanish first introduced tomatoes to Europe, where they became used in Spanish and Italian food. The French and northern Europeans wrongly thought that they were poisonous as they are a member of the deadly nightshade family.[2] The leaves and immature fruit contains tomatine, which in large amounts would be toxic. However, the ripe fruit contains no tomatine.
As food
The tomato is grown and eaten around the world. It is used in many ways, such as raw in salads or in slices, stewed, a part of a wide variety of dishes, or processed into ketchup or tomato soup. Unripe green tomatoes can also be breaded and fried, used to make salsa, or pickled. Tomato juice is sold as a drink, and is used in cocktails such as the Bloody Mary.
Tomatoes contain many nutrients but is highest in vitamin C and potassium. A medium tomato contains approximately 15 grams of vitamin C and 290 grams of potassium.
Tomato Media
Solanum lycopersicum var. lycopersicum: the oldest surviving tomato fruit and leaves. Page from the En Tibi Herbarium, 1558. Naturalis Leiden.
Soon after Hernán Cortés's conquest of the Aztecs, the tomato was brought from Mexico (his arrival there pictured) to Europe in the Columbian exchange.
The San Marzano is a well-known plum tomato highly prized for making pizza.
Tomatoes for sale in a UK supermarket
Tomaten in einem Siebhaus
The "tomato tree" at the Walt Disney World Resort's experimental greenhouses
Seedlings 7 days after planting
Common tomato plant, 27 days after planting seeds, 3 days after transplanting into 5 gallon bucket. Grown indoors, controlled environment under 400w metal halide lamp.
A tomato flower (Solanum lycopersicum), Castelltallat, Catalonia
(NRCS_Photo_Gallery).jpg)
Related pages
References
- ↑ "Phylogeny".
Molecular phylogenetic analyses have established that the formerly segregate genera Lycopersicon, Cyphomandra, Normania, and Triguera are nested within Solanum, and all species of these four genera have been transferred to Solanum
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Tomato Description, Cultivation, & History".