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You say Tomayto....

Summer 2011 |

(NC)-TomAYto versus tomAHto, fruit versus vegetable. These are the debates that plague the tomato.  Did you know that no matter how it's pronounced, the word 'tomato' is derived from the Aztec word, 'tomatl,' meaning 'plump fruit' or 'something round and plump'?  While disagreements over pronunciation may never be resolved, it has been proven that the tomato is, botanically, a fruit - in fact, it's the world's most popular fruit, with more than 60 million tons produced worldwide per year.  Get to know the tomato on a whole new level:

• Did you know that some of the world's first tomatoes grew wild as cherry-sized berries in the Andes?
• In the mid-1500s, Spanish conquistadors brought tomato seeds back from their travels, where they were embraced in Italy, Spain and Portugal.
• It's been suggested that in France, tomatoes rose in popularity during the French Revolution because of their colour - red was associated with the revolutionaries, so eating red food was thought to be a sign of loyalty.
• When first introduced in Italy, the tomato was thought to be an aphrodisiac and became known in Italian as 'poma amoris', meaning 'love apple'. Over the years, the tomato has been known by many other delicious names including 'golden apple' and 'apple of paradise'
• The tomato's scientific species name, 'lycopersicum', means 'wolf peach.
• Because they're part of the nightshade family, it was once thought that tom'atoes were poisonous and meant only to decorate gardens.

• The tomato is a cousin of the eggplant, potato, ground cherry and sweet peppers.

• While botanically the tomato is a fruit, in 1893 the U.S. Supreme Court declared, for tariff purposes, that it is a vegetable, since it is generally served with dinner rather than dessert.

• Tomatoes are an excellent source of fibre: A medium tomato has almost as much as a slice of whole wheat bread.A tomato a day... Tomatoes are rich in vitamins and nutrients no matter how you eat them - fresh, cooked or in processed forms, such as sauce, juice or ketchup.

  Find more fun facts about the fruit that masquerades as a vegetable at californiatomatofarmers.com, or twitter.com/CaliTomFarmers.

  www.newscanada.com