Tomatoes
Kingdom-plantae
Order-Solanales
Family-Solanaceae
Species-S.Lycopersicum
The species originated in central and south America.The Nahuatl Caztec language word "to mate" from which the English word tomato originates.
Numerous varieties of tomato are widely grown in temperate climates across the world,with greenhouses allowing it's production throughout the year and in cooler areas.The plants typically grow 1-3 metres(3-10 ft) in height and have a weak stem that often sprawls over the ground and vines over other plants.It is a perennial in it's native habitat, and grown as an annual in temperate climates.An average common tomato weighs approximately 100 grams(4oz).
It's use as food originated in Mexico,and spread throughout the world following the Spanish colonization of the Americas.Tomato is consumed in diverse ways,including,as ingredient in many dishes,sauces,salads,and drinks.While tomatoes are botanically berry-type fruits,they are considered culinary vegetables,being ingredients of savory meals.
Etymology
The word "tomato" comes from the Spanish word tomato,which in turn comes from the Nahuatl word tomatl.It first appeared in print in 1595.
The native Mexican tomatilo is to mate(in Nahuatl: tomatl) meaning "fat water" or "fat thing".
When Aztecs started to cultivate the Andean fruit,bigger and red, they called the new species xitomatl(or jitomates) ("plump thing with navel" or "fat water with navel"). After their conquest of Tenochtitlan,Spaniards exported tomatoes (jitomates) to the rest of the world with the name to mate,so numerous languages use forms of the word "tomato" (tomate) to refer to the red tomato instead of the green tomatilo. It first appeared in print in 1595.
The scientific species epithet Lycopersicum means "wolf peach", and comes from German werewolf myths.These Legends said the deadly nightshade was used by witches and sorcerers in potions to transform themselves into werewolves, so the tomato's similar,but much larger,fruit was called the "wolf peach" when it arrived in Europe.
Fruit versus vegetable
Tomatoes are considered a fruit or vegetable depending on context.According to Encyclopedia Britannica, due to(the taste) and nutritional purposes.
Botanically, a tomato is a fruit, a berry, consisting of the ovary,together its seed, of a flowering plant.However, the tomato has a much lower sugar content than other edible fruits, and is therefore not as sweet.Typically served as part of a salad or main course of a meal,rather than as dessert, it is in the U.S considered a" culinary vegetable ". One exception is that tomatoes are treated as a fruit in home canning practices ,they are acidic enough to process in a water bath rather than pressure cooker as vegetables require.Tomatoes are not the only food source with this ambiguity: bell peppers,cucumbers,green beans,eggplant,avocados,and squashes of all kinds (such as Zucchini and pumpkins) are all botanically fruits, yet cooked as vegetables .This has led to legal dispute in the unites states.In 1887,U.S tariff laws that imposed a duty on vegetables,but not fruits,caused the tomato's status to become a matter of legal importance.The U.S supreme court settled this controversy on 10 may 1893, by declaring that the tomato is a vegetable, based on the popular definition that classifies vegetables by use,that they generally are eaten with dinner not dessert (Nix v.Hedden(149 U.S 304). The holding of this case applies only to interpretation of the Tariff Act of 3 march 1883,and the court did not support to reclassify the tomato for botanical or other purposes.
Credit: Encyclopedia
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