Tomato Facts
Tomato Facts That You Should Know
• The tomato, facts say, is the single most popular fruit in the world. You've probably heard that the tomato is a fruit, not a vegetable, although its uses are more like those of vegetables. The United States actually started classifying the tomato as a vegetable for trade purposes, in 1893.
• The world produces about sixty million tons of tomatoes a year. This places it well ahead of the second most favorite fruit, bananas, of which only forty-four tons are produced.
• The Incas and Aztecs first cultivated tomatoes in about 700 AD. Explorers had their first taste of the tomato in Mexico, and took them back to Europe with them.
• Tomatoes facts tell us that the fruit has no cholesterol, and they have plenty of healthy fiber. They also are rich in vitamins C and A. An average size tomato only has thirty five calories, and is full of lycopene, which may help prevent cancer. Lycopene also gives the tomato its red color, is a powerful anti-oxidant and it is not produced in the body.
• The common tomato facts point out that its correct name means “wolf peach”. Tomatoes are cousins of red peppers and potatoes, and tomatoes have more than ten thousand varieties.
• Tomatoes are used in many food products, in the United States and around the world, such as pasta and spaghetti sauce, tomato soup and ketchup.
• A few more interesting tomatoes facts: If you cook a tomato before you eat it, you will get more lycopene from it. Cold temperatures affect the flavor of tomatoes, so don't keep ripe tomatoes in your refrigerator.
• Eating tomato products more than twice a week can lower a man's risk of prostate cancer by anywhere from twenty-one to forty-three percent. Lycopene is the only nutrient, doctors say, that has shown to have a preventative value, against cancer of the prostate.
• Lycopene in tomatoes, facts say, helps protect women from developing a tissue growth, or tumor, in the cervix. Lycopene also is good for the eyes. It is the one most important anti-oxidant that protects the elderly against Age-Related Macular Degeneration.
• Americans get more of their vitamins from tomatoes than from any other foods used as “vegetables”. Salsa has replaced ketchup as the most popular condiment, and the tomato is the heart of both of them.
• Some other interesting tomatoes facts: People in the United States eat about 24 pounds of tomatoes a year per person. Tomatoes are a versatile food that you can do many things with to enhance your diet – and, as you have seen, they are very healthy for you.