You say toe-may-toe, I say toe-mah-toe.

Tomatoes originated in South America and were consequently spread all over the world by Spanish explorers. Many regional cuisines use them in their dishes, ranging from Southeast Asia to the Middle East. Imagine Italy without tomatoes... life as we now know it could have been entirely different without this amazing fruit (yes, fruit). 

Its relatives are potatoes and eggplant, though all of them are distant relatives to night-shade. This is how people thought tomatoes were poisonous at first. Good thing that tomatoes weren’t. Packed with vitamin C, A, and K, this fruit is also low in calories; one cup of a raw, ripe tomato contains 37 calories and 2 grams of dietary fiber! It is also a great source for lycopene, a known antioxidant.

Nightshade is known for having a diverse range of alkaloids. As far as humans are concerned, these alkaloids can be desirable, toxic, or both.

The interesting part is that if the tomato is cooked, it increases the bioavailability of the lycopene.  In other words, the body can use the antioxidant better when cooked tomato dishes are eaten.  Raw or cooked, tomatoes are great for you. 

Storing Tomatoes 

Tomatoes that are grown locally will always be superior in both texture and flavor when compared to tomatoes sold at the grocery store.  Store tomatoes are frequently bought when they are still green (i.e., unripe) so that they last long enough to be transported to the store, while locally grown tomatoes are picked far later in the ripening process. 

If purchased from a retail outlet, most ripe tomatoes retain best eating quality for 2 to 3 days if stored at room temperature. Store fruit away from direct sunlight with the stem scar facing up to reduce softening and darkening of the fruit. You can hold under ripe tomatoes from a retail outlet for as long as 5 days. For short-term storage, it is best to keep the tomatoes in a well-vented ripening dome or a paper bag at the coolest room temperature possible. Be sure to keep the fruit out of direct sunlight as it will warm the fruit and cause more rapid softening (University of California, 2004). 

Many tomato varieties have been bred to enhance traits that extend the fruit’s storage life, including some large-fruited “vine-ripe” types, cluster tomatoes, and many cherry and Roma types. They may be held at room temperature for up to 5 days (University of California, 2004). 

One of the most common food storage mistakes, made by a large number of people, is storing tomatoes in the refrigerator. Refrigeration is not usually recommended for fresh tomatoes as it can cause flavor loss. You can, however, delay softening of “just-ripe” tomatoes by holding them for a short time in refrigerated storage. Flavor loss will be minimal if cold storage lasts less than 3 days. If you need to refrigerate tomatoes, place them in the crisper section in their plastic clamshell container (if that is how they were pack- aged in the store), a paper bag, or a plastic bag with a few slits, to reduce water loss. This is most important for cherry and grape tomatoes. Excessive water loss is first noticeable as wrinkling or puckering of the fruit’s skin. It is best to remove the fruit from the refrigerator 1 hour before eating to help it regain some of its original flavor (University of California, 2004). 

With a rainbow of colors to choose from, 

it is hard to resist them!