Latin name for tomato. Tomatoes

(1738-1833). For a long time, tomatoes were considered inedible and even poisonous. European gardeners bred them as an exotic ornamental plant. American botany textbooks include a story about how a bribed chef tried to poison George Washington with a tomato dish. The future first president of the United States, having tasted the prepared food, went on to get on with his business without learning about the insidious betrayal.

Tomato today is one of the most popular crops due to its valuable nutritional and dietary qualities, a wide variety of varieties, and high responsiveness to the growing techniques used. It is cultivated in open ground, under film covers, in greenhouses, greenhouses, on balconies, loggias and even in rooms on window sills.

Fresh tomatoes and tomato juice are useful for cardiovascular diseases, gastritis with low acidity, general loss of strength, weakened memory, and anemia. Tomato is also used as a laxative. A pulp of red tomatoes is applied to the swollen veins (bandaged at night every day or every other day for a month).

Biological features

The tomato has a highly developed tap-type root system. The roots are branched, grow and form quickly. They go into the ground to great depths (with seedless crops up to 1 m or more), spreading in diameter by 1.5-2.5 m. In the presence of moisture and nutrition, additional roots can form on any part of the stem, so tomatoes can be propagated not only seeds, but also cuttings and side shoots (stepchildren). Placed in water, they form roots within a few days.

Growing technology

Tomato shoots. Interval between images 1 day

Tomato seedlings 1.5 months after seed germination

Tomatoes are sown in greenhouses in winter, with the expectation that a month after the 2nd planting they can be planted directly in the ground without fear of frost, or in semi-cold greenhouses. If planted very early, plants may be ready to be transplanted into the ground at a time when the soil is not ready for this, and the plants remaining in the greenhouse, being closely spaced, begin to stretch out and turn pale, becoming too sensitive to temperature changes. In view of this, planting time must be strictly coordinated with local climatic conditions. In case of frost, plants must be covered with old boxes, matting or mats.

During the first period of seedling growth in a warm greenhouse, you only have to monitor the ventilation of the greenhouse and protecting the seedlings from weeds and pests. 3-4 weeks after sowing, when the second pair of leaves with teeth appears, they begin the first picking, replanting it in a warm greenhouse, but with a large layer of soil; The picking itself is done in the same way as with cabbage, and up to 300 plants are planted under the frame if there is a second picking, or only up to 200 if the plants are subsequently planted directly into the ground, without a second picking. In the second greenhouse, the ventilation of the latter is monitored not only to avoid dampness and mold, but also to harden the plants.

A month after the first picking, when the plants begin to crowd each other too closely, they begin the second picking, moving the plants more freely (no more than 200 plants per frame), raising the greenhouse box and covering the plants less and less with frames in order to accustom the plants to outside air. The final replanting into the ground is carried out approximately a month after the 2nd picking, when there is no longer any danger of frost. In cases where they want to get earlier fruits, for example, in early or mid-June, sowing in greenhouses is done as early as possible and three picks are made before planting in the ground.

Plants from greenhouses are transplanted into pots, and they are kept in open greenhouse boxes, covered with matting only at night and when the temperature drops. The final replanting of soil from pots is carried out without disturbing the clod of earth and burying it in pre-prepared holes. Using pots allows the gardener not to rush into replanting and wait for the most likely favorable time, since the plants continue to develop properly in pots. As for the location for tomatoes, they love lighted, dry, well-irrigated soil. The tomato does not tolerate fresh fertilizer and is susceptible to potato disease; Tomatoes work well after cabbage that has received rich fertilizer. Tomatoes are planted in rows; close planting is harmful in all respects. Immediately after planting, the plants are watered, and this watering is continued until the plants are established.

Early in the post-planting period, when nights are still cool, watering after sunset should be avoided, as this would cause the ground to cool even more. Along the entire plantation, furrows are made to irrigate the plants. Tomatoes are content with irrigation, and the plants themselves need to be watered from a watering can only during extremely severe droughts, and only once or twice a summer. With further growth of plants, it is necessary to tie up and trim the plants (trellis method of propagation), which promotes uniform illumination of the plants, better ventilation, and, consequently, more abundant and earlier ripening of fruits. After pruning the plant in such a way that only 2-3 strong shoots remain, the intermediate ones are removed, the tomatoes are tied either to trellises (lattices, wires, etc.) or to stakes, and it should be observed that each stem develops completely freely . Further care involves removing fatty shoots and adjusting the supports.

Fruit harvesting begins in early June and continues, depending on the area, until mid-September. Before the onset of cold weather, to avoid freezing, plants are pulled out of the ground along with the fruits and placed in greenhouse boxes, where the fruits ripen. The fruit itself is collected using a knife or scissors. The collected fruits are layered with straw. When shipping, they are placed in boxes in no more than two layers.

Pests, diseases and methods of controlling them

Pests of tomatoes are mole crickets, black sciarid mosquitoes, greenhouse whiteflies, potato aphids and some other insects: (cotton bollworm, Colorado potato beetle).

Tomato diseases can be caused by an excess or lack of nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus, or fungi and viruses: mosaic (Nicotiana virus J. virus), leaf bronzing (virus Lycopersicum virus), root rot (pathogen is fungus Thielaviopsis basicola), rhizoctonia fruit rot (fungus Rhizoctonia solani Kuehn.), pink rot of fruits (fungus Fusarium gibbosum App. et Wr.), gray rot (fungus Botrytis cinerea Pers.), stem rot of tomatoes (fungus Didymella lycopersici), fomoz (brown rot ; mushroom Phoma destructiva Plowr.), fusarium wilt (fungus Fusarium oxysporum f. lycopersici.), anthraciasis (fungus Colletotrichum atramentarium (Berk. et Br.) Taub.), white rot (fungus Sclerotinia sclerotiorum), brown leaf spot, cladosporiosis, or leaf mold (fungus Cladosporium fulvum Cooke.), verticillium wilt (fungi Verticillium albo-atrum and V. dahliae).

As well as the following diseases of different nature:

• fruit cracking,
• curling tomato leaves,

Usage

Tomato fruits are eaten fresh, boiled, fried, canned, tomato paste, all kinds of sauces, juices are prepared from them.

How did tomatoes (tomatoes) appear? Where did the name tomato (tomato) come from? What is another name for tomatoes?

From the history of the tomato

There is no reliable archaeological data on the origin of the cultivated tomato species. Wild and semi-wild species and varieties of this botanical genus still grow in Ecuador, the Galapagos Islands, Peru and northern Chile. A number of researchers consider Peru to be the birthplace of the cultivated tomato, the German naturalist Alexander Humboldt called Mexico, and the Soviet plant grower Nikolai Ivanovich Vavilov pointed to the South American region as the gene center of origin of the primitive
tomato shapes. The famous botanist Decandolle, the already mentioned Alexander Humboldt and others believe that the original form of tomatoes is the cherry variety. There is evidence that the beginning of tomato culture dates back to the 5th century BC. e., when they were bred by the ancient Peruvians.

Tomatoes in America

The Indians who grew and consumed tomatoes called this plant “tumatl”. But at the same time, until the middle of the 19th century in America, this plant was considered poisonous, because botanists classified it as a member of the nightshade family -
plants known for their poisonous properties. As it turned out, all parts of the tomato are poisonous and emit a pungent odor, except for the fruits and seeds. Moreover, the myth about the toxicity of tomatoes was so convincing that in 1776, during America’s struggle for independence, George Washington’s cook tried to poison him with meat cooked with tomatoes. Washington was pleased with the food, but the cook, in fear of retribution, cut his throat.

The emergence of tomatoes in Europe

Tomatoes were believed to have been brought to Europe by Columbus in 1493 via Western India. The first cultivation of tomatoes in Europe began in the 50-60s of the 16th century. At the end of the 16th century in France, England, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Spain, and Portugal, tomatoes were called “apples of love.” In Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Yugoslavia, tomatoes are called paradise apples, or heavenly apples. The term "tomato", which is currently used in many countries, comes from the native South American "Tumatle" - tomatil.

The first mentions of tomatoes by European botanists date back to 1553-1554, when the Dutch botanist Dodoneus in the book “The History of the Three First Principles in Commentaries and Drawings” gave a complete image of a tomato bush, and the Italian botanist Pietro Andrea Magtioli called “pomi d'oro” - “golden apple” described the fruits of tomatoes and made sketches of this plant.

The version about the extreme toxicity of tomatoes lasted in Europe for about a hundred years. Europeans grew tomatoes as ornamental plants in flower pots on window sills, around garden arbors and in greenhouses. Because of their beautiful fruits, these plants have aroused increased interest primarily
amateur flower growers. In France, tomato was considered an aphrodisiac and was nicknamed “pom d'amour” - “apple of love.” In addition, tomato fruits were used for medicinal purposes.

In the 1811 edition of the Botanical Dictionary you can read: “... although the tomato is considered a poisonous plant, in Italy it is eaten with pepper, garlic and butter, and in Portugal and Bohemia they already make sauces from it that have an extremely pleasant, sour taste.” .

Only at the end of the 18th - beginning of the 19th centuries were tomatoes classified as vegetable crops, and since 1793, tomatoes began to be sold in the markets of Paris.
Later, together with European settlers, tomatoes end up in New Orleans (America) and the tomato returns to its homeland, America,
already as a vegetable crop.

The history of the appearance of tomatoes in Russia

Compared to many vegetable crops, tomato is a relatively new crop for Russia. Tomato cultivation began in the southern regions of the country in the 18th century. In Europe at that time, tomatoes were considered inedible, but in our country they were grown as an ornamental and food crop.

In the summer of 1780, the Russian ambassador to Italy sent a shipment of fruit to Empress Catherine II to St. Petersburg, which also included a large number of tomatoes. The palace really liked both the appearance and the taste of the strange fruit, and Catherine ordered tomatoes from Italy to be regularly delivered to her table. The Empress did not know that tomatoes called “love apples” had been successfully grown for decades on the outskirts of her own empire: in the Crimea, Astrakhan, Taurida, and Georgia.

One of the first publications about tomato culture in Russia belongs to the founder of Russian agronomy, scientist and researcher Andrei Timofeevich Bolotov. In 1784, he wrote that in the middle zone “tomatoes are grown in many places, mainly indoors (in pots) and sometimes in gardens.” Thus, in the 18th century, tomato was primarily an ornamental crop. The further development of gardening made the tomato a food crop.

The tomato appeared on the territory of Russia relatively recently, being at first an ornamental crop. The ancient Aztecs used it for medicinal purposes, and it is thanks to their records that South America is considered the homeland of the tomato. For a long time, its fruits were considered poisonous and were not eaten. Today, tomatoes are used in the preparation of many dishes and are loved by everyone.

Origin of the tomato family

The tomato began its journey from the Galapagos Islands, where it was grown by the ancient Aztecs in apothecary beds and was called “tomatl”. The fruits of the plant were used to treat certain diseases, and the leaves were used to repel insects. This information is reflected in the literature of the 16th century.

Today, the homeland of tomatoes is Mexico, where in its natural habitat you can still find interesting forms of this plant with small fruits.

Some scientific researchers defend the opinion that the tomato comes from Peru. There is information according to which this plant existed already in the 5th century BC, and it was the Peruvians who grew it.

Tomato seeds were supposedly brought to Europe in the 16th century by the Spaniards, who were the first to set foot in America. 100 years after the discovery of America, the plant spread to Spain, then to Portugal and further throughout European territory.

It is noteworthy that although tomatoes were grown and eaten by the Aztecs before the arrival of Europeans in America, in America, this plant was considered poisonous until the middle of the 19th century. They even tried to poison the future President George Washington with them. Of course, the attempt was unsuccessful, since tomatoes are quite edible, and even very tasty.

For many years, Europeans also considered this plant to be poisonous. And only in the 17th century, or more precisely, in 1692, they tried to use the exotic fruits of this plant in cooking. We dared to do this in Spain. I liked the taste of the fruit and became one of my favorites.

But it was recognized that the fruits could be eaten in Europe only at the end of the 18th - beginning of the 19th centuries. And soon after that, settlers from Europe to America brought tomatoes to their historical homeland, but as a vegetable crop.

Plant names

In the territories of the various states through which the tomato traveled, residents gave it different names. Thus, sensual Italians and passionate French called the tomato the “golden apple.” Small tomatoes in the form of golden balls were used exclusively as decorative decorations. The fruits were considered poisonous, so they were not eaten.

The Italian "pomo d'oro" and the French "pomm d'or" can sometimes be translated as "apple of love." The Russian name “tomato” came from the foreign name “pomo d’oro” heard. In the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Yugoslavia and Hungary, the fruits are still called “paradise”. It means heavenly apples.

Appearance in Russia

Tomatoes were first tasted in Russia in the 18th century.

But they were not eaten as food, but were used as an ornamental crop. This happened due to climatic conditions, due to which the fruits of the plant simply did not ripen. There was a time when Russia was jokingly called “the country of evergreen tomatoes.” Everything changed when the Russian agronomist Andrei Bolotov tried to apply the seedling method to growing this plant. Today, the tomato is a tasty and valuable product for most people.

Conflicts in definition

The tomato is a very widespread plant, regarding which there has been confusion regarding the name of its fruit. Some experts say that a tomato is a vegetable. Others argue that the fruit of this plant is a fruit. And some are sure that the tomato is a real berry.

Proponents of the opinion that the tomato fruit is a berry justify it from a scientific point of view. In botany, a berry is defined as a fruit covered with a thin shell, having a juicy center with several dense seeds inside. The berries ripen on herbaceous or shrubby plants. The tomato fruit fully satisfies all these requirements, so it can be called with full confidence a berry, and a real one at that.

The fact is that in botany there is a concept of a false berry. Their seeds are located outside, and not inside the pericarp, as required by the definition of berries. In a tomato fruit, the seeds are located exactly where the seeds of the berries should be.

There is a clear definition of fruit in science. They are called edible fruits of plants with juicy or hard pulp with seeds inside, which are formed from the ovary of flowers as a result of pollination. The tomato fruit fully fits this description.

Therefore, we can safely say that a tomato is a fruit.

Vegetables are all other edible parts of a plant. In botany, there is no definition of fruits and vegetables. These terms are culinary, agricultural and household.

But in the USA, European Union countries and other English-speaking peoples, tomato fruits are considered fruits, since in English the words fruit and fruit are translated the same way and there is no difference between them.

From the point of view of botanists, vegetables do not exist at all. But in everyday life it is customary to call tomato fruits vegetables. There are several prerequisites for this:

1. The term “vegetable” appeared in cooking several hundred years ago. By definition, vegetables are the non-sweet parts of a plant that are eaten raw or after heat treatment as a main dish.
2. Tomatoes are grown as an annual crop by cultivating the soil and using loosening, which takes a short period of time. The method of growing tomatoes is similar to other vegetables.
3. Tomatoes are not served for dessert and are not added to baked goods, such as berries.

Hence the tomato fruit is called a vegetable, and not a fruit or berry.

The judicial issue regarding the name of tomato fruits arose not in connection with their species, but because of legal frictions. Their resolution in 1893 was dealt with by the Supreme Court.

The prerequisite was the introduction of a tax on vegetables in America in 1887, while there was no customs duty on fruits. According to the court's decision, the tomato was recognized as a vegetable, and the main argument for making this decision was that tomato fruits are served for lunch and are not used as dessert, since they are not sweet.

But according to the decision of the European Union in 2001 Tomato is officially recognized as a fruit, despite the divergence from agricultural structures, where the tomato is traditionally classified as a vegetable.

Application in various fields

Tomatoes, thanks to the efforts of breeders, amaze the imagination with a variety of varieties. They are divided into groups due to certain differences:

Regardless of whether these fruits are called berries or vegetables or fruits, tomatoes are very healthy foods, which is due to the content of proteins, enzymes, amino acids, sugars and polysaccharides, a large amount of vitamins and organic acids.

Use in cooking

Tomatoes are essential ingredients when preparing a wide variety of dishes. Moreover, different dishes may require certain varieties of tomatoes.

For example, red tomatoes, shaped like peppers, do not have seeds, so they are ideal for making sauces, frying and stewing meat. Large, fleshy varieties of red, pink and raspberry colors are used for preparing salads and cold appetizers. Plum-shaped fruits are good canned and in hot dishes. And miniature cherry tomatoes harmonize perfectly with seafood.

When tomatoes are cooked, their beneficial properties are preserved.

Medicine and cosmetology

Since ancient times, the positive effect of tomatoes on the human body has been noticed. Today, having studied the biochemical composition of these fruits, tomatoes are used in the treatment of many diseases, such as:

• avitaminosis;
• liver diseases;
• stomach and duodenal ulcers;
• disruption of the cardiovascular system;
• obesity;
• anemia;
• diabetes.

The fruits and juice from them are used as part of special preventive and therapeutic diets. Tomatoes also activate the functioning of the kidneys and gonads. The antioxidant lycopene they contain fights DNA mutations and prevents the division of cancer cells. Lutein, which is part of the chemical composition of tomatoes, strengthens vision.

In cosmetology, the benefits are due to the presence of beta-carotene and biologically active substances in tomatoes, due to which:

• facial skin color improves;
• wrinkles are smoothed out;
• skin tone increases.

Masks using tomatoes are effective against varicose veins, and also actively fight the signs of skin aging.

Like any medicine, tomatoes have some contraindications for use:

• Tomatoes should be used with caution if you have existing diseases of the gallbladder, bladder and liver, since the organic acids contained in the fruit can cause an exacerbation of the disease;
• Excessive consumption of tomatoes is not recommended for pregnant women due to the presence of malic and citric acids;
• It is not recommended to consume tomatoes for patients with rheumatism and arthritis, since oxalic acid, which is part of their composition, has a negative effect on water-salt metabolism;
• For diseases of the kidneys and cardiovascular system, the use of salted and pickled tomatoes is contraindicated.

It is curious that tomatoes are among the ten most healthy foods, as they contain all the substances necessary for the normal functioning of the human body.

Is a tomato a vegetable or a berry?

Tomato (lat. Solánum lycopérsicum) is a plant of the genus Nightshade of the Solanaceae family, an annual or perennial herb. Cultivated as a vegetable crop. Tomato fruits are known as tomatoes. Fruit type - berry.

The name tomato comes from Italian. pomo d'oro - golden apple. The Aztecs had a real name - matl, the French remade it into the French tomate (tomato).

Its homeland is South America, where wild and semi-cultivated forms of tomato are still found. In the middle of the 16th century, the tomato came to Spain, Portugal, and then to Italy, France and other European countries. The earliest recipe for a tomato dish was published in a cookbook in Naples in 1692, while the author refers to the fact that this recipe comes from Spain. In the 18th century, the tomato came to Russia, where it was first cultivated as an ornamental plant. The plant was recognized as a vegetable food crop thanks to the Russian agronomist A. T. Bolotov (1738-1833). For a long time, tomatoes were considered inedible and even poisonous. European gardeners bred them as an exotic ornamental plant. American botany textbooks include the story of how a bribed chef tried to poison George Washington with a tomato dish. The future first president of the United States, having tasted the prepared food, went on to get on with his business, never learning about the insidious betrayal.

Tomato today is one of the most popular crops due to its valuable nutritional and dietary qualities, a wide variety of varieties, and high responsiveness to the growing techniques used. It is cultivated in open ground, under film covers, in greenhouses, greenhouses, on balconies, loggias and even in rooms on window sills.

In Russia, tomatoes (as well as potatoes) were treated with caution, calling them “mad berries” or “dogs.” There was even a belief according to which it was believed that anyone who tasted these fruits would certainly lose their mind.

Tomatoes - vegetables, fruits or berries?

The biological identity of tomato fruits is a confusing matter. From a botanical point of view, a tomato is a berry. In 1893, the US Supreme Court ruled that tomatoes should be considered vegetables, which, however, also has an economic rationale: unlike fruits, the import of vegetables was subject to customs duties. The judge who made the decision concluded: “From a botanical point of view, the tomato, like cucumbers and beans, is a fruit or berry, as it grows on a vine and springs from a seed. But in the usual understanding of consumers, the above fruits are vegetables, since they grow in citizens’ gardens and are consumed raw like potatoes and cabbage. And also due to the fact that they are usually eaten for lunch after soup along with meat and fish and are not served as dessert, which distinguishes them from fruits.” In 2001, the European Union restored historical justice, at least in the Old World, by ordering that the tomato be considered a fruit. However, in everyday life, a tomato is still most often considered a vegetable. Article added
10.07.2011 01:12