Time to embrace the tomato: Fruit could prevent cancer and reduce heart disease

IT IS believed tomatoes were first cultivated by the Incas of Peru around 700AD and spread to Mexico where European explorers discovered it.

nature, fruit, health, diet, tomatoesMedial research has shown the simple tomato offers a whole host of health benefits [GETTY]

The name derives from "xitomatl" which means "plump thing with a navel" in the Aztec language.

The fruit arrived in Europe in the late 15th century. The French christened it "pomme d'amour" meaning "apple of love" because it was considered to be an aphrodisiac. In Italian it is "pomodoro" meaning "golden apple", indicating the first varieties were probably yellow.

The Latin name is lycopersicon lycopersicum which translates as "wolf peach".

Is it a fruit or a vegetable? Technically it is a fruit because it's the ripened seedcase of a plant but for commercial purposes it is categorised as a vegetable. So the answer is both.

The tomato is related to the aubergine, red pepper, potato and belladonna - also called deadly nightshade and a well-known poison.

The first recipe for spaghetti with tomato sauce dates from 1790. It came from Francesco Leonardi, chef to Empress Catherine The Great

Tomatoes were thought to be poisonous too when they arrived in North America in the 19th century, so much so that in 1820 the state of New York passed a law banning their consumption. To prove they were safe, wealthy landowner Robert Gibbon Johnson who had brought some from Europe ate a bag of them before a shocked crowd on the steps of the courthouse in Salem, New Jersey… and lived.

The first recipe for spaghetti with tomato sauce dates from 1790. It came from Francesco Leonardi, chef to Empress Catherine The Great.

The biggest tomato plant ever recorded was a sungold variety grown in 2000 by Nutriculture Ltd of Mawdesley, Lancashire. It reached 65ft in height. According to Guinness World Records, the largest plant is currently to be found in the experimental greenhouse at Walt Disney World Resort (formerly Disneyworld) in Florida. It weighs just over 82 stone and produces more than 32,000 golf ball-sized fruits which are served in resort restaurants. The plant was grown from seeds brought from Beijing, China.

The tomato is the official state fruit of Tennessee and Ohio and the official state vegetable of New Jersey. Tomato juice is also the official state beverage of Ohio. In Arkansas, it is the official fruit and vegetable.

The health benefits are endless. They are rich in potassium, which lowers blood pressure, thus reducing the risk of heart disease and strokes. They contain good amounts of vitamin B and folate which the body needs to convert homocysteine, a potentially dangerous chemical which damages the walls of blood vessels, into benign molecules.

Antioxidants roam the body neutralising free radicals which damage cells and cell membranes. Lycopene is an outstanding antioxidant and because tomatoes are full of it they offer good protection against prostate and colon cancer. One study showed a tomato-rich diet reduced the likelihood of developing prostate cancer by 32 per cent. They also have excellent anti-inflammatory properties which protect against chronic degenerative diseases including osteoporosis, Alzheimer's, cardiovascular disease and various cancers. The chromium in them helps regulate blood sugar levels - important in diabetics - and the riboflavin has been shown to reduce migraines.

nature, fruit, health, diet, tomatoes, cancers, heart disease, Spain, Florida, Disney, tomberries, cooking, culture, eventsTomatina festival revellers in Brunol, Spain [GETTY]

One medium-sized tomato provides more than a third of the recommended daily dose of vitamin C and nearly a third of the daily allowance of vitamin A - essential for eye health. Don't bin the squishy ones. The riper the fruit the higher the vitamin C content and the greatest concentration is in the jelly-like pulp around the seeds. Vine-ripened ones contain nearly twice as much vitamin C and beta-carotene as those picked when they are green.

A serving of tomatoes provides nearly a fifth of the recommended daily dose of vitamin K for healthy bones. They are also a good source of iron and fibre and lycopene works as a natural sunscreen. And since they are mostly water they are a natural diuretic and a great food to eat when dieting.

Cooked tomatoes (including tinned) are better for you than raw as more lycopene is released through cooking. An ounce of cooked ones contains double the amount of vitamin C and almost a fifth more betacarotene than an ounce of raw fruit. Our bodies also absorb more lycopene from cooked ones than from raw. Even ketchup is a good source of lycopene, especially if it's organic.

The heaviest tomato was grown in 1986 by Gordon Graham of Edmond, Oklahoma. It weighed 7lb 12oz and there was enough of it to make sandwiches for 21 people.

While tomatoes are healthy, the leaves are toxic.

China is the largest producer (providing 17 per cent of the world's tomatoes), followed by the US, Turkey, India and Egypt.

It is the world's most popular fruit. Each year, more than 60 million tonnes are produced which is 16 million tonnes more than the second most popular fruit, the banana.

The highlight of La Tomatina, a festival held on the last Wednesday in August in Bu±ol, Spain, is the fight when 30,000 people lob 100 tonnes of over-ripe tomatoes at each other.

At least 19 US states hold tomato festivals.

The first ones were the size of cherry tomatoes. Now there are at least 10,000 varieties in yellow, pink, purple, black and white as well as red.

The smallest are the "tomberries" which are less than a quarter of an inch wide. The biggest is the ponderosa which can weigh more than 3lb.

Tomatoes should NOT be kept in the fridge. Cold decreases flavour.

One pound (in weight) of tomato seeds will produce around 140,000 plants.

As a youngster former US president Ronald Reagan bit into a tomato after mistaking it for an apple. He never ate one again.

In 1984 12.5 million tomato seeds were sent into space on a satellite. They circled Earth for six years before being brought back. They were distributed around the world but when planted they showed no significant differences.

Plant tomatoes next to carrots, borage or asparagus as they repel each other's pests. Scented crops such as parsley, chives, mint, basil and oregano are good companions too as they mask the smell of tomato plants making it harder for predators to find them.

When the low-budget comedy horror film Attack Of The Killer Tomatoes was released in 1978 one critic said: "It isn't even worthy of sarcasm." In the opening scene a woman is killed by a tomato emerging from a waste disposal unit. But it became a cult hit and spawned three sequels, the first starring George Clooney.

And a final word on being tomato-savvy: what's the difference between knowledge and wisdom? Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.

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