Author: Annettew
Spaghetti sauce, ketchup, salsa, and soup—none would be the
same without tomatoes. It is hard to imagine a life devoid of
this delectable fruit. Fruit? Tomatoes are the reproductive part
of the tomato plant, so botanically speaking they are fruits.
However, for horticultural and culinary purposes, tomatoes are
vegetables because they are most often used in savory dishes.
Tomatoes were not always so popular, though. They had a rough
history from the mountains of Peru to our dining room tables.
Tomatoes in History
Tomato plants originated in the "New World," or western
hemisphere. Most likely originating in Peru, tomatoes were
domesticated into the plants we know today in Central America.
Hundreds of years of cultivation changed a weedy, seemingly
useless plant into a prolific producer of tasty fruit.
Brought to the Mediterranean regions by Spanish Conquistadors,
and used widely for centuries, it took much longer for Europeans
to embrace the tomato. Tomatoes are part of the plant family
"Solanaceae," the potato family. Eggplants, potatoes and
tomatoes all share the same genes. The potato family is also the
family of deadly nightshade, which contributed to long-held
beliefs that tomatoes were poisonous. Tomato plants are similar
in appearance to Nightshade plants. Folkloric beliefs relayed
that witches used nightshade plants to summon werewolves. The
common name for tomatoes was "wolf peach." Linnaeus, upon
adopting and applying the modern day system of bionomial
nomenclature, named the tomato Lycopersicon esculentum, which
translates as "edible wolf peach."
Tomatoes were not widely accepted, cultivated and eaten in
European and North American countries until the mid-nineteenth
century, when the myth of tomatoes as quick avenues to poisoning
were put to rest. In the United States, tomato cultivation took
off in 1820, when Colonel Robert Johnson ate a basket full of
tomatoes in a public square to put to rest rumors of tomatoes'
ill effects. During this time, most people still grew their own
vegetables, and eagerly began growing tomatoes in their garden
plots. These 19th Century garden plots are where the heirloom
varieties of tomatoes, so treasured today, were cultivated,
differentiated, and preserved.
Health Benefits of Tomatoes
Once people began growing and harvesting their own tomatoes,
there was no stopping the popularity of the vegetable. Tomatoes
are great sources of vitamin C and Potassium, each essential
nutrients for health. The most celebrated nutrient in tomatoes
is Lycopene, the red pigment in tomatoes. Lycopene contributes
to health benefits such as reduction in risk of developing many
types of cancers. Lutein, another element in tomatoes
contributes to health of the retina of the eye, and to heart and
vascular health.
Tomatoes are tremendously versatile, and can be eaten cooked or
raw, whole or pureed, in salsas, soups, sauces, and in salads.
Health benefits are best realized when tomatoes are cooked with
a bit of healthy oil. Cooking helps break the cell walls of the
plant, releasing nutrients. Healthy oils such as olive oil aid
in absorption of vitamins and nutrients in tomatoes.
From their scraggly, weedy and dubious beginnings, tomatoes
have become a staple in cultures all over the world. Prized for
their flavor and their health benefits, tomatoes are a fixture
of modern cuisine.
About The Author: Annette Welsford is author and publisher of
"How to Grow Juicy Tasty Tomatoes." For more information, visit
http://www.bestjuicytomatoes
