The evolution and development of the humble tomato as a vital ingredient of our day by day food regimen throughout the world is a fascinating story. Yolanda Evans writes in the June 5, 2025, situation of National Geographic journal about the rise in tomatoes with delusion and folklore and the way tomatoes weren’t all the time a beloved ingredient.
Once deemed sinful, smelly, and “poison apples”, they had been linked to superstition and sickness, partially as a result of their response with lead in copper-based dinnerware. The use of a extra acceptable vessel by farmers from Salem, New Jersey, to cook dinner tomatoes shifted public opinion in the US.
Tomatoes weren’t native to India however delivered to us by the Portuguese merchants in the fifteenth century. They had been then adopted by the British colonisers in the sixteenth century who began rising them throughout the nation and added them to their menu. But the folks had been nonetheless cautious of it. As the impartial journalist Ms. Sohel Sarkar has written, in 1938 the doctor Dr Tara Chitale and her colleagues tried to persuade folks about the advantages of utilizing tomatoes to treatment widespread chilly, scurvy, and iron deficiency, however the response was lukewarm.
The change lastly transpired when an increasing number of inputs got here from travellers who really useful tomatoes in our food regimen, and consultants from the National Institute of Nutrition in India identified the significance of nutritional vitamins and minerals in our day by day food regimen and the way tomatoes are wealthy in them.
Health advantages
Plant biologists classify tomato as a fruit. The advantages that tomatoes supply to our day by day well being have been described amongst others by the dietitian and public well being specialist Ms. Cynthia Saas of California. Let us spotlight some of these. Tomatoes are wealthy sources of antioxidants that provide well being advantages for the coronary heart and mind. They have vitamins that scale back the danger issue for coronary heart illness considerably. Increased tomato consumption decreases hypertension, a noteworthy level for senior residents. The cellulose fibre content material in tomatoes helps to stop constipation. The pink carotenoid pigment referred to as lycopene in tomatoes may assist defend folks above 70 years of age from Alzheimer’s illness. Ms. Saas has warned that earlier than cooking tomatoes, one should guarantee they’re totally washed and free of any dust-borne germs.
Tomatoes are grown in farmlands throughout India, numbering between 5,000 and 10,000 crops per acre. According to 1 estimate from the Professor Jayashankar Telangana Agricultural University, India produced 210 lakh tonnes in the yr 2022-2023, second solely to China (680 lakh tonnes). The Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, Bengaluru, has been researching a selection of tomato crops. One, referred to as ‘Arka Rakshak’, is a disease-resistant hybrid whereas one other, ‘Arka Shreshta’, has a lengthy shelf-life, making it simpler to move.
The prime seven tomato cultivating States are Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Karnataka, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, and Tamil Nadu. The common whole-sale worth is estimated to be about Rs 1,700 per quintal.
Today, nearly each home in the nation makes use of tomatoes of their day by day food regimen. A typical Indian dish today invariably has some tomatoes in it, be it as a soup, added to a vegetable curry, chutney, added to rice or wheat as a ‘rasam’, and as ketchup for sandwiches and pizzas.
Having tasted the tomato and learnt that it’s not sinful however the truth is has a number of well being advantages, allow us to take pleasure in this vegetable.
