Solanum lycopersicum
Tomato
a vegetable vine of the Solanum genus in the family Solanaceae.
Taxonomy and growth
- Family
- Solanaceae
- Genus
- Solanum
- Is a variety
- No
- Habit
- shrub, vine
- Life cycle
- annual
- Height
- 2 (unit unspecified)
- Spread
- 0.4 (unit unspecified)
- Fertility
- self fertile
- Flower type
- hermaphrodite
Uses
Toxicity
Toxicity warning. The historical record reports a hazard for this plant. Do not use it to decide which parts are safe to eat or use medicinally.
Edible uses
Fruit - raw or cooked[1][10][16][17]. It can be used as a savoury vegetable or flavouring in cooked foods, or can be eaten out of hand as a dessert fruit. It is much used in salads and as a flavouring in soups and other cooked foods. The fruit can also be dried and ground into a powder that can be used as a flavouring and thickening agent in soups, breads, pancakes etc[8].
- Plant part
- Seed
- Product or use
- Oil
Medicinal uses
Historical medicinal uses. These records describe reported uses. They do not establish safety or effectiveness. Ask a qualified health professional before using any plant medicinally.
The pulped fruit is an extremely beneficial skin-wash for people with oily skin. Sliced fruits are a quick and easy first aid treatment for burns, scalds and sunburn[13]. A decoction of the root is ingested in the treatment of toothache[14]. The skin of tomato fruits is a good source of lycopine, a substance that has been shown to protect people from heart attacks. It seems to be more effective when it is cooked and so can be obtained from food products such as tomato ketchup and tinned tomatoes[15]. Lycopine has also been shown to have a very beneficial effect upon the prostate and is being used increasingly to treat enlarge prostate and the difficulties in urination that accompany this disorder. A homeopathic remedy is made from the plant[21]. It is used in the treatment of rheumatism and severe headaches[21].
- Plant part
- Fruit
- Product or use
- Cardiac
- Plant part
- Fruit
- Product or use
- Skin
- Plant part
- Plant
- Product or use
- Homeopathy
- Plant part
- Roots
- Product or use
- Odontalgic
Material uses
The strong aroma of this plant is said to repel insects from nearby plants[21][7][11]. A semi-drying oil is obtained from the seed. It can be used in making soap[18][20][6]. See the notes above regarding utilization. A spray made from tomato leaves is an effective but very poisonous insecticide[13]. It is especially effective against ants[21] but should be used with great caution because it will also kill beneficial insects and, if ingested, is toxic to humans[K]. The pulp of the fruit is used cosmetically in face-packs[21].
- Plant part
- Fruit
- Product or use
- Cosmetic
- Plant part
- Leaves
- Product or use
- Insecticide
- Plant part
- Whole
- Product or use
- Repellent
- Plant part
- Seed
- Product or use
- Oil
Ecology and functions
- Ecosystem niche
- Shrub, Herbaceous, Climber
Environment
- Range
- Original habitat is obscure, probably Western S. America, a cultivated form of L. cerasiforme[4].
- Habitat
- Not known in a truly wild situation.
- Light
- full sun
- Shade tolerance
- no shade
- Water
- moderate
- Hardiness
- Zone 9+
- Soil textures
- sandy, loamy, clay
- Soil pH
- acid, neutral, alkaline
- Drainage
- well drained
- Wind
- No
- Maritime
- No
- Pollution
- No
- Tolerates Nutritionally Poor Soil
- No
- Drought
- intolerant
- Root Zone
- shallow
Propagation
This section contains historical Plants For A Future notes marked noncommercial.
Seed - sow early spring in a warm greenhouse. Germination is usually quick and good. Pot up the seedlings into individual pots of fairly rich compost as soon as the first true leaf appears and plant them out after the last expected frosts. Seed can also be sown in situ under a cloche at the end of April, though in a cool summer the results may be disappointing. The seedcoat may carry tomato mosaic virus. However, by sowing the seed 15mm deep the seedcoat will remain below the soil surface when the seed germinates and the disease will be inactivated[3].
- Seed Requires Scarification
- No
- Seed Requires Smokification
- No
- Seed Requires Stratification
- No
Cultivation
This section contains historical Plants For A Future notes marked noncommercial.
Requires a rich well-drained soil in a warm sunny position. The tomato is widely grown throughout the world for its edible fruit. There are many named varieties and over the considerable period of cultivation by humans two distinct types have emerged[8]. These are:- L. esculentum cerasiforme (Dunal.)A.Gray. This is the cherry tomato. Closer to the original species, it produces a large crop of small fruits with a delicious sweetness. L. esculentum esculentum. This is the more commonly grown tomato with much larger fruits. There are a very large number of cultivars with a wide variety of colours and fruit shapes and sizes. Tomato plants are not frost-tolerant and generally need to be started off in a greenhouse in the spring if they are to succeed outdoors in Britain. They also need a hot sunny summer if they are to fruit well. Some varieties have been developed that can be successfully grown outdoors during the summer in temperate climates such as Britain, although good summers are still required in order to get reasonable yields. Varieties have been developed in Eastern Europe that can flower and set fruit at 7°c (this is compared with a temperature requirement of 11 - 13°c in earlier varieties). These varieties could provide a basis for the commercial outdoor cultivation of tomatoes in Britain[5]. Tomatoes grow well with asparagus, parsley, brassicas and stinging nettles[7][19]. They are also a good companion for gooseberries, helping to keep them free of insect pests[13]. They dislike growing near fennel, kohl-rabi, potatoes[7][11] and brassicas[11] (this is not a typing error, merely a difference of opinion between different books). This species hybridizes with L. pimpinellifolium (which is called L. esculentum pimpinellifolium by some botanists) but it does not hybridize with L. peruvianum[2].
References
F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 32202/01/01
Chakravarty. H. L. The Plant Wealth of Iraq.
RHS. The Garden. Volume 113. Royal Horticultural Society 32202/01/01
Bianchini. F., Corbetta. F. and Pistoia. M. Fruits of the Earth.
Carruthers. S. P. (Editor) Alternative Enterprises for Agriculture in the UK. Centre for Agricultural Strategy, Univ. of Reading 32202/01/01 ISBN 0704909820
Hill. A. F. Economic Botany. The Maple Press 32202/01/01
Philbrick H. and Gregg R. B. Companion Plants. Watkins 32202/01/01
Facciola. S. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications 32202/01/01 ISBN 0-9628087-0-9
Stary. F. Poisonous Plants. Hamlyn 32202/01/01 ISBN 0-600-35666-3
Hedrick. U. P. Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. Dover Publications 32202/01/01 ISBN 0-486-20459-6
Riotte. L. Companion Planting for Successful Gardening. Garden Way, Vermont, USA. 32202/01/01 ISBN 0-88266-064-0
Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 32202/01/01 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Allardice.P. A - Z of Companion Planting. Cassell Publishers Ltd. 32202/01/01 ISBN 0-304-34324-2
Duke. J. A. and Ayensu. E. S. Medicinal Plants of China Reference Publications, Inc. 32202/01/01 ISBN 0-917256-20-4
Radio 4 AM - 32202/01/01
Simmons. A. E. Growing Unusual Fruit. David and Charles 32202/01/01 ISBN 0-7153-5531-7
Thompson. B. The Gardener's Assistant. Blackie and Son. 32202/01/01
Uphof. J. C. Th. Dictionary of Economic Plants. Weinheim 32202/01/01
Hatfield. A. W. How to Enjoy your Weeds. Frederick Muller Ltd 32202/01/01 ISBN 0-584-10141-4
Usher. G. A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. Constable 32202/01/01 ISBN 0094579202
Chiej. R. Encyclopaedia of Medicinal Plants. MacDonald 32202/01/01 ISBN 0-356-10541-5
Cooper. M. and Johnson. A. Poisonous Plants in Britain and their Effects on Animals and Man. HMSO 32202/01/01 ISBN 0112425291
[Lycopersicon esculentum] Poisonous Plants of North Carolina (2012/08/09)