TOMATO

Vitals

Lycopersicon esculentum , belonging to the nightshade family, Solanaceae.

Origins: All wild relatives are found in the Andes mountains of South America.

• Early archeological evidence: There is little, since the tomato and its seeds are so perishable.

• Early historical references: Cortéz reported seeing Aztecs growing and eating a fruit called “tomatl” during his conquest of Mexico in 1519. Also, Spanish writers from the 1500s refer to red tomatoes in Mexican markets.

• Climate: Cool (below 80 °F; 26 °C) Mediterranean climate.

• Major producing countries: China, United States, Turkey.

Short history

Surprising but true: The tomato is not Italian. Many varieties of wild tomatoes still line the banks of rivers in the Andes, where they began life as an unnoted weed. Animals carried tomato seeds north to Mexico, where, archeologists believe, the Aztecs began cultivating the plant around AD 500. When Spanish explorers brought the plant to Europe, southern Europeans embraced it but the British balked at its membership in the nighshade family. Some nightshade plants are toxic or hallucinogenic, which made the English fear that consuming tomatoes would bring on digestive problems and even death. Tomatoes remained a widely grown ornamental plant in European and American gardens until 1820, when Robert Gibson Johnson, an eccentric tomato grower, consumed a basket of his garden tomatoes on the steps of the Salem, New Jersey, courthouse. To the surprise of captivated onlookers, Johnson survived, and the tomato became a welcome addition to the dinner table.

Tomato facts and lore

Botanically, the tomato is a fruit, meaning that it is the ripened ovary of a plant (for more on this, see The Secret Lives of Flowers ) and contains seeds. By this definition, many vegetables are fruits: cucumbers, peas, and pumpkins are examples.

In 1997, the Flavr Savr tomato became the first whole food to go on the market in a genetically modified (GM) form. These tomatoes remained firm and ripe, but their taste was not favored by consumers, and they are no longer sold.

The tomato’s genus, Lycopersicon , can be translated as “wolf peach,” which is what it was called by botanists in the sixteenth century. It was also known in Italy as “pommodoro,” which means “love apple.”

One variety of wild tomato growing in the Galapagos Islands can be irrigated with seawater. Handy for coastal farmers, except that its seed only grows if it is first digested and voided by sea turtles.

Saving the seed

Tomato seeds are fairly simple to save, and the seeds will remain viable for about four years.

• Tomatoes are a very popular vegetable, and you can select for many different traits. Fruit color, plant size, and disease resistance are some. Choose tomatoes from the plants that most exhibit the traits you’d like.

• Let your seed tomatoes ripen as much as possible before harvesting the seed. Tomatoes can be picked before they are ripe, as they will also ripen off the vine.

• Cut each tomato open and scoop the seeds and pulp into a bowl. If you cut along the equator of the tomato, you can remove the seeds and pulp and still save the tomato flesh to eat.

• Add a little water and let the mixture stand for three days in a warm place (60–75 °F; 15–20 °C). Stir once a day and pour off seeds that float to the top, adding more water if needed.

• You’ll notice a fungus growing on top. Don’t panic! The fungus eats the gelatinous coating on the seeds and protects them from disease.

• After three or four days, strain the viable seeds, rinse them thoroughly, and spread them on newspapers to dry for several days.

• You can either remove them from the paper or roll up the paper and put it in a storage container. When you want to plant, tear off a piece of paper with seeds stuck to it, and plant it. The paper will disintegrate.

• Store in a packet or glass container in a dark, cool place.

Note: Make sure that the tomatoes you are saving seed from are what’s called an “open-pollinating” rather than a hybrid variety. For a list of companies that sell seeds for open-pollinating plants, and more information on the importance of seed saving, see our article Why Save Seeds?

 

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