Carta-identita

Tomatoes (Solanum Lycopersicon, according to other authors “Lycopersicon Esculentum”) are solanaceae originating from Latin America. In Europe they were cultivated for long time only for ornamental purposes because not reputed edible. They are red berries, important ingredients of the Mediterra- It was rumoured they had exciting and aphrodisiac qualities, that’s way it was used in magic potions by the alchemists of XVI and XVII centuries. Also defined the “Love Fruit” by the various languages spoken Description They are varied meaty berries that differ in colour, shape, dimension and taste. Main Use They are usually cooked with salad, soup, sauce, seasoning, paste, juice and cocktail (Bloody Mary). Stuffed with mozzarella, they represent a typical summer fresh dish: the Other Tomato properties are used to make toning and firming mask to nourish the skin. Also uses used against pimples, sunburns, home burns, to cure hands and to clean brass.
Varieties According to shape, dimension, colour, pulp and state of ripeness we can distinguish: Tomatoes for salads, used in the kitchen: quite rounded, smooth surface possibly divided into segments ( Camone Sardo and Cuore di bue-Arawak, Bubu).
Peeled Tomatoes o tomato sauce, for industries: stone shaped, elongated, very meaty, for their intense red colour they’re defined copper-coloured tomatoes Tomato juice or paste: quite rounded, they have a very intensive aroma (Petomech and The ones suitable for being dried or placed in oil have small berries, red or yellow, rounded, oval or stone shaped, often in clusters (Principe Borghese).
Other varieties: Pachino, Ciliegino, Piccadilly, Cherry, Maria Vittoria, Yellow Tomato from Castelfiorentino, Yellow Winter Tomato, Canestrino Tomato, Florentine Costoluto Tomato, “Borsa del castrato” Tomato, Tomato of Sorrento, Belmonte Tomato, Marmande The berries can have different colours: from white to yellow, pink, orange, green and even purple. Some tomatoes are actually empty (tomate à farcir).
The plant Usually, the tomato plant tends to creep. Our climate can damage barriers that’s why the installation of supports is required. The seeds of tomatoes to sell to markets are planted in the seedbed before, then transplanted into the ground. Tomatoes prefer sun expo- sure, well-fertilized soil, moderated but regular irrigation (better in the morning). It’s a handmade harvesting of small yellow flowers in clusters.
Origin The Tomato plant originated from Latin America. Since the beginning of the century it has been cultivated in the Mediterranean area more intensively and worked in for indus- trial storage. In Italy, cultivating tomatoes is a secular tradition. Our country is the third highest in the world ranking for its production and export. Puglia, Campania, Emilia Romagna, Calabria and Sicilia are the best manufacturing Italian regions.
Name The name “pomo d’oro” (golden apple) would derive from the colour it had once, the gold one. Its various names were influenced by the exciting and aphrodisiac qualities they were thought to have. That’s why the English called it “love apple” , the French “pomme d’amour”, “Libesapfel” by the Germans and “pomo d’oro” by the Italians. In some villages of the interior of Sicily it is called “pùma d’amùri”. The Italian name is due to Andrea Mattioli in 1554, all definitions with explicit love references. In France, men used to give little tomato plants to ladies, as a sign of love. Nowadays the old names, but the Italian one, changed in the various derivation from the Aztec Indian “tòmati”. Seasonality All year available, the best period to eat tomatoes is between May and September, the How Good tomatoes must be ripe, solid, uniformly coloured with no strains. As paste type is to choose always available keeping intact all the nutritional features.
Advices Avoid eating raw tomatoes in winter or using the greenest ones to make salads because they are very rich in solanine: a toxic alkaloid for the nervous system that other vegeta- bles contain too. It’s always better to eliminate tomato skins because they could irritate the stomach. With tomatoes we should always use some extra virgin olive oil or a glass of red wine that help the body to assimilate the fat-soluble vitamins and enhance the Calories Tomatoes provide few calories (16kcal per hectogram), that’s why it’s always present in slimming diets because they contain much water. Properties Made mainly of water, tomatoes are riches in B-C-E vitamins, beta- carotene and potas- and sium, folic acid, iron, phosphorus, calcium. Also in antioxidants like sulphur and lyco- nutritional pene that helps in protecting the skin from the free radicals attack, responsible for the values aging process and for many cancers.
Unripe tomatoes are very rich in licopersicina. They are mildly laxative; useful in case of candida infection. They help digesting foods like pasta, rice, potatoes (riches in starches) and eliminating the excess of proteins caused by eating too much meat. Thanks to its acidulous taste it helps digestion. A study of the British Society for Investigative Dermatology revealed that tomatoes sup- port the skin protecting it from UV rays. The Cnr researchers of Pozzuoli, according to the Federico II University of Naples demon- strated that a polysaccharide, without the skins, works like an anti-inflammatory. It was also published on the Journal of Natural Products.
Celiac disease Tomatoes do not contain gluten. (Data provided by AIC: Celiac Italian Association).
Preservation Preserve tomatoes in the refrigerator in the fruit and vegetables compartment or in a cool, dry place for maximum 6-7 days.
History Its botanical name has been a source of controversy. In 1753 Carlo Linneo for the first of the time classified it in the Solanum genus. Then in 1768 Philip Miller disagreed and created botanical a new genus which scientific name was Lycopersicon esculentum. This definition is still name present in many articles today, but modern molecular biology techniques have created accurate phylogenetic trees indicatind tomato as a Solanum, according to Linneo.
Historical Tomatoes originated from the South of America, an area between Mexico and Peru. The references Aztecs called it xitomatl. The term tomatl indicated juice fruits in general. Tomato sauce became an integral part of the Atzec cuisine. In 1540 tomatoes arrived in Europe, brought by Hernàn Cortés but they started being cultivated only in the second half of the XVII century, because initially they were thought to be poisonous like other solanaceae. Anyway, people in Italy already ate fried tomatoes with salt in the XVI century. At the end of the XVII century, tomatoes started appearing in some recipes in the south of Italy, where especially poor people ate them. Then the French were also attracted by them, but only the court was allowed to eat tomatoes.
Thanks to Lazzaro Spallanzini’s studies, in 1762 tomatoes began to be preserved after being boiled and placed in closed containers because Spallanzini noticed that tomato extracts didn’t go bad in this way. In the XIX century, tomatoes were intensively culti- vated in the south of Italy and France, in Spain and they started being exported to the Curiosities After potatoes, tomatoes are the most cultivated vegetables of the world. The produc- tion is equal to 18% in tonnes in relation to the world horticultural one.
The word Abruzzo: “pammador” , Basilicata: “pummidòre”, Calabria: “pimmadoru, pumadoru, “Tomato” pummadòru”, Campania: “prommarola, pummarola”, Corsica: “pumidoru, pomudoru”, in the Emila Romagna: “ pómdòr, pomdor, tomàca, tumàtis, tumätis”, Friuli Venezia Giulia: Italian “tomat”, Lazio: “ pmb’rol’, pummidora, pummidoro”, Liguria: “pumata”, “tomata”, dialects “tumata”, Lombardia: “pomates”, “pomàtis”, “pumadamuri”, “tumàtis”, Piemonte: “tomatisa”, “tumatica”, Puglia: “pemedòre”, “pummitoru”, Sardegna:”tammata”,

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