TOMATO

The tomato (Lycopersicum esculentum) is called also in France, Love Apple, and in Germany, Apple of Paradise, the former name suggested that it was beloved of Venus, and the latter attributing to it the downfall of our first parents. It is a native of the warm parts of America, but has long been grown in this and other countries, having been introduced as early as the beginning of the sixteen century. Several varieties are known to horticulturists, differing in size, shape, and colour (red or yellow), those of the cherry and pear shapes being regarded by botanists as distinct. The common tomato bears a large, irregularly-shaped furrowed fruit, this irregularity sometimes being due, in a measure, to two or more flowers producing one fruit between them.

Botanically speaking, the tomato you eat is a fruit. A "fruit" is any fleshy material covering a seed or seeds. However, horticulturally speaking, the tomato is a vegetable plant. The plant is an annual and nonwoody.

In 1893, the United States Supreme Court ruled the tomato was a "vegetable" and therefore subject to import taxes. The suit was brought by a consortium of growers who wanted it declared a vegetable to protect U.S. crop development and prices. Fruits, at that time, were not subjected to import taxes and foreign countries could flood the market with lower priced produce.

The tomato (LYCOPERSICON ESCULENTUM) belongs to the nightshade family (Solanaceae) along with the potato, tobacco, petunia, pepper, eggplant, nightshade, jimson weed and many other plants, some useful, some noxious. It is a herbaceous perennial, but in northern climates is grown as an annual, since in most parts of the U.S. the plant is killed by frost before completing the first year's growth.

Dennison, Hall and Nettles in an article entitled, "Influence of Certain Factors on Tomato factors on which the consumer evaluates the quality of tomatoes. These are color and general appearance, firmness of the fruit, internal appearance of the sliced fruit, and flavor.

Flavor. "The sugar and acid contents of the tomato fruit are two of the primary factors determining the flavor. The total amount of each and the ratio of sugar to acid is very important. If the ratio (percent sugar divided by percent acid) is too low, the fruit are sour and have an insipid flavor. An unnaturally sweet flavor is produced if the ratio is too high. The locular jelly is the most acid portion of the fruit and contains the lowest sugar content. The greater the percentage of locular jelly in the fruit, the lower the sugar/acid ratio will be.... The acid content of the fruit increases until the mature-green stage is reached and then decreases until the fruits are fully ripened. There is a rapid rise in the sugar/acid ratio from the mature-green fruit to the ripened fruit.

Firmness. "A number of studies have been made of the pectic substances found in tomatoes. Most of these studies indicate that these materials have an important influence on the firmness of the fruit. During the development of the fruit the insoluble protopectin is laid down in the primary cell walls. With the onset of ripening the protopectin is gradually converted to soluble pectin. As ripening continues, the pectins decrease in concentration and the fruit becomes softer.