The tomato is the edible berry of the plant Solanum lycopersicum.
Its domestication and use as a food may have originated with the indigenous peoples of Mexico.
Kingdom: Plantae
Genus: Solanum
Species: S. lycopersicum
Ssignificant source of umami flavor.
Consumed raw or cooked, in many dishes, sauces, salads, and drinks.
While tomatoes are fruits, as they are botanically classified as berries.
But they are commonly used as a vegetable ingredient or side dish.
Widely grown in temperate climates.
Greenhouses allow production throughout all seasons of the year.
Typical growth is 3–10 feet in height,
with vines that have a weak stem that needs support.
Indeterminate tomato plants are cultivated as annuals.
The size of the tomato range 1⁄2–4 in in width.
Botanically, a tomato is classified a fruit.
It is a berry, consisting of the ovary, together with its seeds, of a flowering plant.
It is considered a culinary vegetable.
It has a much lower sugar content than culinary fruits.
Typically served as part of a salad or main course of a meal, rather than as a dessert.
Bell peppers, cucumbers, green beans, eggplants, avocados, and squashes, zucchini and pumpkins are all botanically fruit, yet cooked as vegetables.
Tomato plants are vines, typically growing 6 feet or more above the ground if supported, although erect bush varieties have been bred, generally 3 ft 3 inches tall or shorter.
Indeterminate types are tender perennials, dying annually in temperate climates.
Determinate types are annual in all climates.
Tomato plants are dicots, and grow as a series of branching stems, with a terminal bud at the tip that does the actual growing.
Tomato vines are typically covered with fine short hairs, that facilitate the vining process, turning into roots wherever the plant is in contact with the ground and moisture.
Most tomato plants have compound leaves, and are called regular leaf plants.
In culinary terms, tomato is regarded as a vegetable, its fruit is classified botanically as a berry.
It develops from the ovary of the plant after fertilization, its flesh comprising the pericarp walls.
The tomato fruit contains hollow spaces full of seeds and moisture, called locular cavities.
For propagation, seeds need to come from a mature fruit, be dried or fermented before germination.
The tomato has thousands of cultivars.
Tomato production – 2018 millions of tons.
China 61.5
India 19.4
United States 12.6
Turkey 12.2
Egypt 6.6
World 182.3
Mildew and blight are common tomato afflictions
Many tomato pests exist.
A common tomato disease is tobacco mosaic virus, beet leafhopper.
Botanically a berry, a subset of fruit, the tomato is a vegetable for culinary purposes because of its savory flavor.
It is used in diverse ways, raw in salads or in slices, stewed, incorporated into a wide variety of dishes, or processed into ketchup or tomato soup, 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.
Best unwashed at room temperature and out of direct sunlight.
It is not recommended to refrigerate them as this can harm the flavor.
Cold stored tomatoes tend to lose their flavor permanently.
Storing stem down can prolong shelf life,as it may keep from rotting too quickly.
Tomatoes that are not yet ripe can be kept in a paper bag till ripening.
Tomatoes are easy to preserve whole, in pieces, as tomato sauce or paste. or by drying, often in the sun, and sold either in bags or in jars with oil.
Tomato plants can be toxic to dogs if they eat large amounts of the fruit, or chew plant material.
Tomatoes have been linked to Salmonella outbreaks.
Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)
Energy 74 kJ (18 kcal)
Carbohydrates
3.9 g
Sugars
2.6 g
Dietary fiber
1.2 g
Fat
0.2 g
Protein
0.9 g
Vitamins
Quantity %DV
Vitamin A equiv. beta-Carotene
4%449 μg
123 μg
Thiamine (B1)
3% 0.037 mg
Niacin (B3)
4% 0.594 mg
Vitamin B6
6% 0.08 mg
Vitamin C
17% 14 mg
Vitamin E
4% 0.54 mg
Vitamin K
8% 7.9 μg
Minerals
Quantity %DV†
Magnesium
3% 11 mg
Manganese
5% 0.114 mg
Phosphorus
3% 24 mg
Potassium
5% 237 mg
Water
94.5 g
Lycopene
2573 µg
A tomato is 95% water, contains 4% carbohydrates and less than 1% each of fat and protein.
In a 100 gram amount, raw tomatoes supply 18 calories and are a moderate source of vitamin C (17% of the Daily Value), but otherwise are absent of significant nutrient content.
No conclusive evidence indicates that the lycopene in tomatoes affects the onset of cardiovascular diseases or cancer.