Food Commodities 35

Tomato

The freshy fruit of the Lycopersicon esculentum a vine native to South America and of the night-shade family. Used like vegetable, tomatoes are available in a range of sized, from tiny spheres ( currant tomatoes ) to a large squat ones ( beefsteak tomatoes ) and colors, from green (unripe) to golden yellow to ruby red.

History of Tomato

The Tomato History has origins traced back to the early Aztecs around 700 A.D; therefore it is believed that the tomato is native to the Americas. It was not until around the 16th century that Europeans were introduced to this fruit when the early explorers set sail to discover new lands. Throughout Southern Europe, the tomato was quickly accepted into the kitchen, yet as it moved north, more resistance was apparent. The British, for example, admired the tomato for its beauty, but believe that it was poisonous, as its appearance was similar to that of the wolf peach. 

"...most Europeans thought that the tomato was poisonous because of the way plates and flatware were made in the 1500's. 

Rich people in that time used flatware made of pewter, which has a high-lead content. Foods high in acid, like tomatoes, would cause the lead to leech out into the food, resulting in lead poisoning and death. Poor people, who ate off of plates made of wood, did not have that problem, and hence did not have an aversion to tomatoes. This is essentially the reason why tomatoes were only eaten by poor people until the 1800's, especially Italians. 

What changed in the 1800's? First, and most significantly, was the mass immigration from Europe to America and the traditional blending of cultures. Many Italian-Americans ate tomatoes and brought that food with them. But also, and perhaps equally as important, was the invention of pizza. There is no pizza without tomato sauce, and pizza was invented around Naples in the late 1880's. The story goes that it was created by one restaurateur in Naples to celebrate the visit of Queen Margarite, the first Italian monarch since Napoleon conquered Italy. The restaurateur made the pizza from three ingredients that represented the colors of the new Italian flag: red, white, and green. The red is the tomato sauce, the white was the mozzarella cheese, and the green was the basil topping. Hence, Pizza Margarite was born, and is still the standard for pizza. And what could have led more to the popularity of the tomato than pizza!" It was not regarded as a kitchen vegetable until the times preceding The Civil War Period in the United States. From this point forward,tomatoes have become a staple item in the kitchen throughout the world. Each area of the world has its own tomato history and how it is used in everyday dining. It appears though that tomatoes have had the largest impact on American eating habits, as they are responsible for enjoying over 12 million tons of tomatoes each year. Fruit or Vegetable? An interesting aspect of tomato history is the classic debate: Is the Tomato a Fruit or Vegetable? Well, that depends on whom you are asking. By definition, a fruit is the edible plant structure of a mature ovary of a flowering plant, usually eaten raw; some are sweet like apples, but the ones that are not sweet such as tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, etc. are commonly called vegetables. Botanists claim that a fruit is any fleshy material that covers a seed or seeds where as a horticulturists point of view would pose that the tomato is a vegetable plant. Until the late 1800's the tomato was classified as a fruit to avoid taxation, but this was changed after a Supreme Court ruling that the tomato is a vegetable and should be taxed accordingly. When it is all said and done, the history of the tomato has classified as a poisonous beautiful plant, a tax-avoiding fruit, and a taxable vegetable. Nonetheless, the tomato is the most popular vegetable in America and enjoyed by millions all over the world.

Varieties of Tomato

• Fruit tomato 
  
• Rubi tomato 
   
• Natural water tomato 
  
• Red mary tomato 
  
• Frutika tomato 
  
• White cherry tomato 
  
• Black tomato 
  
• Orange tiger tomato
  
• Green tiger tomato 
  
• White tomato 
  
• Campari tomato 
  
• Cherry tomato 
  
• Koktail tomato 
  
• Pure tomato 
  

How to Grow Tomato

How to Plant and Care for Tomatoes

• Tomatoes run on warmth; plant in late spring and early summer except in zone 10, where they are a fall and winter crop.
• Devote a prime, sunny spot to growing tomatoes. Tomatoes need at least 6 to 8 hours of sun to bring out their best flavors.
• You will need to stake, trellis, or cage most tomato plants to keep them off the ground. Decide on a support plan before you set out your plants, then add that support directly after planting.
• Give each plant enough room to grow. Space robust, long-vined, indeterminate varieties about 3 feet apart. Stockier determinate plants can be grown 2 feet apart. If growing in containers, you’ll need at least a 24-inch pot for an indeterminate variety, or an 18-inch pot for a determinate variety.
• Tomatoes take up nutrients best when the soil pH ranges from 6.2 to 6.8, and they need a constant supply of major and minor plant nutrients. To provide needed nutrients, mix a continuous-release fertilizer with calcium, like Miracle-Gro® Shake ‘n Feed® Tomato, Fruit & Vegetable Plant Food, into the soil as you prepare the planting holes. (Be sure to read and follow all directions.) This will help protect fruit from blossom end rot, a problem that can occur when the plant isn’t getting enough calcium.
• At the same time, mix in 3 to 4 inches of compost, which will provide minor nutrients and help hold moisture and fertilizer in the soil until it is needed by the plants.


A soaker hose waters a tomato plant well and without waste. Cover with mulch once it’s in place.
• To grow a really strong tomato plant, burying two-thirds of the stem when planting. This crucial step will allow the plant to sprout roots along the buried stem, so your plant will be stronger and better able to find water in a drought. Please note that this deep-planting method only works with tomatoes (and tomatillos), not other veggies.
• Immediately after planting, water seedlings to help settle them in.
• You can combine fast-maturing varieties with special season-stretching techniques to grow an early crop, but wait until the last frost has passed to plant main-season tomatoes.
• Cover the ground with 2 to 4 inches of mulch to minimize weeds and help keep the soil evenly moist. Straw and shredded leaves make great mulches for tomatoes.
• Water regularly, aiming for at least an inch of moisture per week (through rain or watering), more in the summertime. Feel the soil; if the top inch is dry, it’s time to water.

How to Troubleshoot Tomato Problems

Tomato blossoms can be temperamental. If it’s too cool (below 55˚) or too hot (above 90˚), the flowers of most varieties will pause from setting fruit until the temperature is back where they like it.

• As summer heats up, some tomatoes have trouble setting fruit. Be patient, and you will start seeing little green tomatoes again when nights begin cooling down. Meanwhile, promptly harvest ripe tomatoes to relieve stressed plants of their heavy burden. If you live in an area in which summertime temperatures are typically in the 90s, be sure to choose some heat-tolerant tomato varieties, bred for their ability to set fruit under high temperatures.
• If summer droughts are common in your area, or you tend to forget to water, use soaker hoses, drip irrigation, or other drought-busting techniques to help maintain even soil moisture. Not only will this help prevent cracked fruits, but also help keep blossom end rot at bay. (Moisture fluctuations can reduce the amount of calcium the plant is able to take up, which can lead to blossom end rot.)
• Humid weather creates ideal conditions for fungal diseases like early blight, which causes dark spots to first form on lower leaves. Be sure to remove any unhealthy looking or diseased leaves throughout the season. Late blight is a more devastating disease that kills plants quickly; the only way to control it is to protect against it by spraying the leaves with an approved fungicide such as chlorothalonil or copper, and to keep the garden clean of plant debris.
• You’ll also want to be on the lookout for pests. In mid-summer, for example, big green caterpillars called tomato hornworms eat tomato foliage and sometimes damage fruits. One or two hornworms can strip a plant leafless in short order! Deal with pests as soon as you spot them.
• By late summer, plants that began producing early in the season will show signs of exhaustion. With just a little effort, you can extend the life of those sad tomato plants by pruning away withered leaves and branches. Then follow up with liquid plant food and treatments for leaf diseases or insects, if needed.

How to Harvest and Store Tomatoes

This cluster of tomatoes shows several stages of ripening. Tomatoes ripen to different colors depending on the variety.

• As tomatoes begin to ripen, their color changes from vibrant medium-green to a lighter shade, with faint pink or yellow blushing. These “breakers,” or mature green tomatoes, can be chopped into salsas, pickled, or pan-fried into a crispy appetizer. Yet tomato flavors become much more complex as the fruits ripen, so you have good reason to wait. The exact signs of ripeness vary with variety, but in general, perfectly ripe tomatoes show deep color yet still feel firm when gently squeezed.
• Store picked tomatoes at room temperature indoors, or in a shady place outside. Never refrigerate tomatoes, because temperatures below 55° cause the precious flavor compounds to break down.
• Bumper crops can be frozen, canned, or dried for future use.

How to Cook Tomato

Tomato is almighty ingredients not only can be eat raw, tomato also can be cook with any cooking style. Tomato also available in canned and paste.

Sources

@ Webster's New World Dictionary of Culinary Arts by Steven Labensky, Gaye G.Ingram, Sarah R.Labensky
@ Larouss'e Gastronomique by Prosper Montagne
@ http://www.tomato-cages.com/tomato-history.html
@ https://bonnieplants.com/growing/growing-tomatoes/
@ https://shizuokagourmet.com/tomatoes-local-varieties-grown-in-shizuoka/