Everyone loves a good tomato
Sep 12, 2016 09:49AM ● By Melanie Wiseman
“You say tomato, I say tomahto...” sang Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. No matter how you pronounce it, there’s no denying that we should all be eating more of these savory gems.
This time of year, tomato varieties are plentiful at farmers markets and in backyard gardens. Over 7,500 tomato varieties are grown for various purposes, from soups and salsas to slicing and canning, main dish ingredients and side dishes.
Research shows tomatoes are by far the healthiest of the fruits and vegetables, with the power to ward off some of the worst diseases. This highly versatile health product with an equally versatile number of preparation options leaves no reason to neglect the tomato as part of a healthy diet.
Fruit or vegetable?
Botanically, a tomato is a fruit, a flowering plant with seeds and ovary. The tomato, however, has a much lower sugar content than other fruits so it’s not as sweet. They’re often considered culinary vegetables.
Tomatoes are not the only food source with this ambiguity: cucumbers, green beans, eggplants, avocados, bell peppers and squashes are botanically fruits, yet are cooked as vegetables.
A little history
Tomatoes (solanum lycopersicum) are native to Central America and western South America. They were brought to Europe by the Spanish and erroneously thought to be poisonous by many Europeans who were suspicious of their bright, shiny fruit. The leaves are in fact poisonous, but the fruit is not.
Tomatoes were not grown in England until the 1590s. Influenced by the British, the U.S. was slow to get on board as well. Some people continued to think of tomatoes as poisonous and they were often grown more as ornamental plants than food. Thomas Jefferson ate tomatoes in Paris and sent some seeds back to America. The tomato culture soon became a great enterprise, and today the crop is grown in all 50 states. Because of the long growing sea-
son needed for this heat-loving crop, Florida and California in particular have become major tomato producers.
Local farmers tout tomatoes
Like many Western Slope residents, Carol Zadrozny, owner of Z’s Orchards, grew up eating tomatoes from her grandmother’s garden.
“We grow heirloom tomatoes and have seeds from all over the world,” Zadrozny said. “Tomatoes are a staple for so many cultures, like Italy’s sauces and Mexican salsas for example.”
An heirloom tomato is an open-pollinated (non-hybrid) tomato. Over the past 40 years, we have lost many heirloom varieties, along with the smaller family farms that grew them. The multitude of heirlooms that had adapted to survive well for hundreds of years have been replaced by fewer hybrid tomatoes, bred for their commercially attractive characteristics. The smooth, round, uniform red tomatoes we know today are genetic mutations, which sacrifice the fruit’s natural sweet taste.
“It’s about eye appeal,” Zadronzy said. “Our eyes first tell us whether we’re going to like something or not.”
Robert Helmer has owned Helmer Orchards for over 25 years.
“People like home-grown, field-grown, grown-in-the-dirt tomatoes,” Helmer said. “They are more flavorful, taking in vitamins and minerals from the soil versus the store-bought tomatoes, which are raised through hydroponics.
They are picked green and left to ripen off the vine. Ours are picked ripe the same day they go to market.”
Helmer touts 12 tomato varieties.
“Yellow tomatoes are lower in acid and Romas are meatier,” he said.
Health benefits
The health benefits of tomatoes can be attributed to their wealth of nutrients and vitamins, including impressive amounts of vitamins A, C and K, and significant amounts of vitamin B6, folate and thiamin. Tomatoes are also a good source of potassium, manganese, phosphorous and copper. They are fat free, low in calories and high in fiber and protein. But wait, there’s more.
• Abundant source of the antioxidants. Lycopene is a vital antioxidant that helps in the fight against cancerous cell formation as well as other health complications and diseases. No other fruit or vegetable has the high concentration of lycopene the tomato possesses.
• Digestive health. Tomatoes have a large amount of fiber, which effectively removes toxins from the body.
• Improves vision. Vitamin A aids in improving vision and preventing night blindness and macular degeneration. Many vision problems occur due to the negative effects of free radicals, and vitamin A is a powerful antioxidant.
• Lowers hypertension. Daily consumption of tomatoes reduces the risk of developing hypertension, also known as high blood pressure. This is partially due to the impressive levels of potassium found in tomatoes.
• Manages diabetes. Daily consumption of tomatoes reduces the oxidative stress of Type 2 diabetes.
• Prevents urinary tract infections. Tomatoes are high in water content and are a natural diuretic, reducing the incidence of urinary tract infections and bladder cancer.
Daily consumption of tomatoes fulfills the daily requirement of vitamins and minerals, and exerts an overall protective effect on the body.
