Fun and Curious Tomato Facts You Didn't Know
Tomato facts that will really surprise you!
Whether you’re a gardener, a curious foodie, or just someone hungry for wacky knowledge, I’ve got some unusual tomato facts ripe and ready to tickle your brain!
- Tomato plants originate from the Andes Mountains of South America. They were brought to Europe by the Spanish and were initially grown only for decoration.
- Tomato ones we thought to be poisonous because they are from the nightshade family.
- The French considered tomatoes an aphrodisiac and thought they could make you fall in love. The French word for tomato ‘pomme d’amour’, means ‘the love apple’
- The word for tomato comes from the Nahuatl, the ancient Aztec language, in which it was called ‘tomatl’. The Aztec name meant ‘plump thing with a navel.”
- Originally tomatoes were pea-sized and such tomato variety still grows wild in Ecuador and Peru.
- The scientific name is Solanum lycopersicum, which means “wolf-peach”
- Tomato plant leaves and stems can be toxic.
- Unlike many other fruits and vegetables, tomatoes are more nutritious when cooked.
- Tomatoes are a rich source of lycopene, a red coloring substance that is an antioxidant that researchers state has anti-carcinogenic properties.
- You can produce electricity using tomatoes. It’s a great experiment to do with kids! Here is how:
- There are more than 7000 varieties of tomatoes.
- The heaviest tomato ever was 3.51 kg (7 lb 12 oz), grown by Gordon Graham of Edmond, Oklahoma in 1986. The tomato was of the cultivar ‘Delicious’.
- More than 94% of tomato’s weight is water.
- On the last Wednesday of August, a tomato fight called La Tomatina is held in Buñol, Spain people throw tomatoes at each other.
- In Spain people used to be thrown to jail for participating in tomato fights.
- Tomato consumption can be very beneficial in regulating hormonal imbalance.
- Tomatoes are on the Dirty Dozen food list (foods most contaminated with pesticides), meaning it’s better to buy only organic tomatoes.
- Green tomatoes will ripen if they are stored with apples.
- If stored tomatoes are exposed to sunlight, they lose their Vitamin C.
- Due to their high vitamin C content tomatoes are great for your skin and tomato paste is a natural way of removing chlorine from hair.
- Tomato ice cream is a popular dessert in Italy
- Tomatoes can be processed in many different ways. The most common is cooking and less known is making tomato wine.
- ‘You’re a real tomato’ is an old-fashioned way to say that someone is attractive!