Tomatoes are popular vegetables commonly used in salad.
Tomatoes are important vegetables for human nutrition. Let’s find out more about them!
- Tomato is a berry of a plant know as… tomato plant!
- The scientific name of tomato plant is Solanum lycopersicum.
- Tomato’s family is Solanaceae.
- Its genus is Solanum.
- Tomato came from Central and South America.
- Tomato as a word came from the Aztecs.
- Actually the Aztec word “tomatl” gave birth to the spanish tomate.
- The English tomato came from the Spanish one!
- Italian used the word pomodoro for tomatoes.
- This means golden apple.
- “Golden apple” is the main ingredient for the most popular sauce for pasta- Napoletana!
- It is said that the first time that the tomatoes were domesticated was by Mexican natives.
- Aztecs loved cooking with tomatoes.
- So, when Spanish conquered the Aztec Empire found out about them and brought them back to Europe.
- This happened during the 16th century.
- These tomatoes were from the yellow variety.
- People were afraid of eating tomatoes because they thought tomatoes are… poisonous!
- Tomatoes “gain weight” when ripen.
- Tomatoes are recommended to men as they are rich to lycopene which is good for their prostate.
- Tomatoes are one of the basic elements in order to make the famous greek salad!
- In Spain there is a famous festival named “La Tomatina”.
- People literally throw tomatoes to each other and they end up “swimming” to tomato sauce.
- Ketchup is made out of tomato.
- Even though people eat tomato as a vegetable, it is classified as a fruit.
- The largest tomato producer worldwide is China.
- China is followed by the U.S.A. and India.
- Cooked tomatoes are actually healthier that the raw ones.
- The largest tomato in the world was picked in Oklahoma, U.S.A.
- It weighed more than an average baby in U.K.
- In Ohio U.S.A. the tomato juice is the official drink in the State.
