August 4, 2000

     Tomatoes

Gardeners have been harvesting ripe tomatoes for about three weeks.%nbsp; The tomato generally is considered a vegetable, and yet botanically it is a fruit or berry belonging to the potato family.

The native home of the tomato is South America, where it still can be found in the wild state, with tiny marble-sized fruit, throughout Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador.  It was first cultivated in Central America and soon introduced into Mexico but probably never was grown by North American Indians because of its sensitivity to cold.  The name comes from the Aztec word tomatl.

The tomato took a long time to gain acceptance in the United States, no doubt because of the belief it was poisonous.  All parts of the tomato plant, except the fruits, have toxic principles containing dangerous alkaloids.  People can have severe digestive problems from eating leaves and stems.

It was not until 1835 that the tomato became generally cultivated in the United States, and even at that time it was considered a novelty to use it as a food.