Tomato
Solanum lycopersicum L.
Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) is a sprawling herbaceous plant whose red berry (botanically a fruit, culinarily a vegetable) is rich in lycopene and vitamin C; it is one of the world's most important food crops.
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Tomato — Leaves
Tomato — Seeds & young plantsTomato — PlantTomato — Whole treeOverview
An annual (sometimes short-lived) herb 1–3 m tall with a succulent, glandular-hairy stem. Leaves are irregularly pinnate with toothed leaflets and a characteristic smell. Small yellow five-petalled flowers grow in axillary clusters and are largely self-pollinating. The berry is round to flattened, 1.5–10 cm across by cultivar, ripening red (some cultivars yellow, orange, purple or blackish) with many flat, hairy seeds.
The tomato descends from a wild species of the Andes (Peru, Ecuador), was domesticated in Mexico and spread worldwide. Ripe fruit is rich in lycopene (a red antioxidant pigment), vitamin C, A and potassium; the stems, leaves and green fruit contain mild tomatine and solanine and should not be eaten raw in quantity. It is used fresh, in sauces, paste and juice; the seeds are pressed for oil.
Life cycle
From seed to productSeed
Flat hairy seeds sown in trays germinate in 5–10 days.
Seedling
Seedlings grow fast, need a loose medium and sun; transplanted after 3–4 weeks.
Flowering
Yellow flowers in clusters self-pollinate; flowering from 1.5–2 months.
Fruiting
Fruits swell and ripen red in 25–40 days; harvested in flushes over 4–6 months.
Distribution & origin
Share of recorded occurrences by region- Andes (origin)14%
- China · East Asia30%
- India · South Asia18%
- Vietnam · Southeast Asia16%
- Mediterranean · Americas · Africa22%
Chemical composition
Relative content in agarwood resin- LycopeneRed pigment, antioxidant30%
- Vitamin C · AIn ripe fruit26%
- Potassium · folateMinerals, micronutrients22%
- Tomatine · solanineStems, leaves, green fruit22%
Uses
- Fresh food and salad; tomato sauce, paste and juice
- Lycopene as antioxidant supporting cardiovascular and prostate health (nutrition)
- Tomato seed oil; ornamental and greenhouse crop
Properties
- Leaf
- Compound, glandular, characteristic smell
- Flower
- Yellow, 5-petalled, clustered
- Fruit
- Red berry, many seeds
Habitat & conservation
Originating in the Andes and domesticated in Mexico; likes a warm, sunny climate and loose, humus-rich, well-drained soil at pH 6–6.8; grown year-round in the tropics, mainly in the dry season to spring.
Conservation
Not globally threatened (IUCN: Least Concern). A global crop; cultivar diversity is conserved in seed banks and gardens.
References
- 1Plants of the World Online — Solanum lycopersicum — Kew Science, 2024
- 2IUCN Red List — Solanum lycopersicum — IUCN, 2019
- 3The tomato genome and its domestication history — Nature Genetics, 2012
- 4Hình ảnh minh hoạ lấy từ Wikimedia Commons, tôn trọng giấy phép ghi kèm — Wikimedia Commons,
- 5Nguồn ảnh: Forest & Kim Starr (CC BY 3.0), Wikimedia Commons — Wikimedia Commons,
- 6Nguồn ảnh: DenesFeri (CC BY-SA 4.0), Wikimedia Commons — Wikimedia Commons,
- 7Nguồn ảnh: André Karwath aka Aka (CC BY-SA 2.5), Wikimedia Commons — Wikimedia Commons,
- 8Nguồn ảnh: Forest and Kim Starr (CC BY 3.0 us), Wikimedia Commons — Wikimedia Commons,
- 9Nguồn ảnh: Emőke Dénes (CC BY-SA 4.0), Wikimedia Commons — Wikimedia Commons,