Aug. 20, 1999

     Evolution of the Tomato

We are now enjoying eating ripe tomatoes from our gardens.  The garden tomato is generally 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 can still be found in its wild state -- with tiny marble-size fruit -- throughout Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador.  It was first cultivated in Central America and soon introduced into Mexico, but was probably never grown by American Indians because of its sensitivity to cold.  The name comes from the Aztec word "tomatl."

Like corn, potatoes, peanuts, beans, peppers, squash and pumpkins, the tomato is an American gift to the world.  A staple of Central and South American Indians, it was first introduced into European gardens in the early part of the 16th century where it was quickly adopted by the French and Italians.  It took a long time for the tomato 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 suffer severe digestive upset from eating leaves and stems.  The first reference to the use of the tomato for culinary purposes in the U.S. was by Thomas Jefferson, who grew tomatoes in 1781 at Monticello.