It is impossible to miss the deep red colour of a Tomato, consumed in diverse ways -  raw or cooked, grating it into a salad or blending it into soups. Being an excellent source of nutrients, it is considered a superfood as people would like to include it in preparations of almost all dishes. From juices to salads to cooked recipes, a tomato is extensively used for its colour, antioxidants, and flavours. In fact, the tomato has been designated as the state vegetable of New Jersey. Many people consider tomato as one of those special foods which make our heart flutter.

Easy to grow, tomatoes have become a more and more popular crop worldwide. Tomato plant originates from the family of nightshade plants (potato, tobacco, chilli, and peppers) from Central America, more specifically from Peru. In the mid-1500s, tomatoes first came to Europe. Today, they are the fourth most sought-after fresh-market vegetables; potatoes, lettuce and onions being the first three. It is speculated that there are over 25000 tomato varieties. It also has wonderful medicinal properties. Tomatoes are of different sizes and colours, and can be prepared in a number of ways. Very delicious and flavourful in nature, most people can’t imagine food without tomatoes.

Interestingly, Americans obtain more vitamins from tomato than from any other vegetable. It is green in nature when it is unripe and turns its colour to red when it ripens. As the tomato has seeds and grows from a flowering plant, botanically it is classified as a fruit, not a vegetable. They are used a lot in Italian food and to make ketchup, of course. Also, it is a key ingredient in many Indian recipes. Tomato gets its red colour from the presence of carotenoids in it. But they are not only in red colour, but you can also find them in yellow, pink, purple, black and white colours.

China is the largest producer of tomatoes, accounting for one-quarter of the world production in 2009. The United States and India are the second and third highest producers respectively. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the heaviest tomato weighed 3.51 kg and was grown by G. Graham in 1986, Oklahoma, USA. Tomatoes help people to fight cancer, maintain blood pressure and reduce blood glucose in people with diabetes. They work fabulously as a blood filter and exceptionally well in removal diets.

Not only for the health, but the tomato is also very beneficial for the skin as it protects it from sunburns.

Basic facts about Tomato

• Kingdom: Plantae
• Family:  Solanaceae
• Class: Dicotyledonae
• Scientific name: Solanum lycopersicum
• Origin:  In literary terms, the English word ‘tomato’ as we call it, comes from the Spanish word, ‘tomate’, which means "the swelling fruit". Botanically, the tomato plant originated somewhere in or around Peru, in Central America. It is believed that it was first grown by the Aztecs (one of the earliest tribes of America) in 700 A.D.
• Group: Dicots
• Other Common names: Tomate (French), Tamatar (Hindi), Pomodoro (Italian)
• Fun Fact:  Each year in the Spanish town of Bunol, the biggest tomato fight in the world happens. The festival is known as La Tomatina and it involves around 40,000 people throwing more than 1,50,000 tomatoes at each other.

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