Tomato | Description, Cultivation, & History (2024)

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Tomato | Description, Cultivation, & History? ›

Today, there are more than 10,000 varieties of tomatoes. Hundreds of years ago, long before Europeans had set foot in the New World, tomatoes grew wild in the Andes of western South America. The indigenous people cultivated them, eventually bringing the plant northward through Central America and into Mexico.

Tomatoes are native to South America, in fact, several species are still found growing wild in the Andes. Brought to Mexico, tomatoes were domesticated and cultivated there by 500 BC. It is thought that the first cultivated tomato was small and yellow.

The tomato (/təmeɪtoʊ/ or /təmɑːtoʊ/) is the edible berry of the plant Solanum lycopersicum, commonly known as the tomato plant. The species originated in western South America, Mexico, and Central America. The Nahuatl word tomatl gave rise to the Spanish word tomate, from which the English word tomato derives.

"Genomic data have revealed the convoluted path of tomato domestication, which followed a natural divergence 80,000 years ago in Ecuador and Peru – to be finished only 7,000 years ago in Mexico," says Gerald Schoenknecht, a program director in NSF's Division of Integrative Organismal Systems.

The Word Tomato Comes from the Aztecs

More specifically, they originated in the Andes by 700 A.D., in what's now called Peru, Bolivia, Chile, and Ecuador, where they grew wild. South Americans, in case you're wondering, ate tomatoes without fear of being poisoned (or turned into werewolves!).

Before tomatoes, the Italian diet was largely similar to the diet throughout the rest of the Mediterranean. Bread, pasta, olives, and beans were all staples, and Italians also made a variety of different types of polenta.

Tomato seeds were brought from Mexico to Spain by those early explorers. From there the plant spread to Italy by the mid-1500s where it began to be incorporated into regional cuisine. Over the following decades, tomato plants were cultivated throughout Europe, but primarily as an ornamental plant.

The first evidence of domestication points to the Aztecs and other peoples in Mesoamerica, who used the fruit fresh and in their cooking. The Spanish first introduced tomatoes to Europe, where they became used in Spanish food. In France, Italy and northern Europe, the tomato was initially grown as an ornamental plant.

Tomato's original colour was orange and now it's making a superfood comeback. You say 'to-may-to', I say 'to-mah-to', but most don't say 'orange' when describing the popular fruit. The orange — or golden — tomato is believed to be the first ever tomato, exported from Mexico to the rest of the world 500 years ago.

Tomatoes, though different from the varieties common today, were often mixed with chili in sauces or as filling for tamales. Eating in Aztec culture could take on a sacred meaning, especially as evidenced in ritual cannibalism.

What are the ancestors of cultivated tomatoes? ›

Thousands of years ago, people in South America began domesticating Solanum pimpinellifolium, a weedy plant with small, intensely flavored fruit. Over time, the plant evolved into S. lycopersicum -- the modern cultivated tomato.

For many years, scientists believed that humans domesticated the tomato in two major phases. First, native people in South America cultivated blueberry-sized wild tomatoes about 7,000 years ago to breed a plant with a cherry-sized fruit.

The plant species is native to Central and South America. Currently, different varieties of tomato are cultivated in temperate climates and greenhouse conditions that allow the plant to thrive throughout the year. The tomato plant is a perennial in its area of origin while it is grown as an annual elsewhere.

The Italians called the tomato pomodoro (“golden apple”), which has given rise to speculation that the first tomatoes known to Europeans were yellow. It has been suggested that the French called it pomme d'amour (“love apple”) because it was thought to have aphrodisiacal properties.

According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the tallest tomato plant ever was grown by Nutricultre Ltd in Lancashire, U.K., reaching 65 feet tall in May 2000.

The Bottom Line

Tomatoes are botanically defined as fruits because they form from a flower and contain seeds. Still, they're most often utilized like a vegetable in cooking. In fact, the US Supreme Court ruled in 1893 that the tomato should be classified as a vegetable on the basis of its culinary applications.

Tomato fruit maturity starts after 70-100 days after transplanting depending upon the variety. Usually, fruits are harvested with hand by a gentle twist so that the stalk is retained on plant. Fruits are normally picked at the interval of 4-5 days in summer whereas for winter crop picking should be on weekly interval.

The earliest record of tomatoes in use is seen in the Aztec people's history. It is believed that they used it in cooking and gave it as gifts, mainly to newlyweds. Aztecs thought that of tomatoes having the ability to increase fertility. Long before the Spaniards conquered America, they conquered the Aztecs.

First, native people in South America cultivated blueberry-sized wild tomatoes about 7,000 years ago to breed a plant with a cherry-sized fruit. Later, people in Mesoamerica bred this intermediate group further to form the large cultivated tomatoes that we eat today.