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Tomato ingredients, use and cultivation
contents
- Vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals
- Lycopene for cancer screening
- Lycopene for sunburn
- Strengthening the immune system
- blood purification
- hardening of the arteries
- Origin in the New World
- A poisonous love apple?
- False suspects
- Tomato as food in Europe
- From America to Europe and back
- Late arrival in Germany
- What should you pay attention to?
- Enjoy raw and heated
- A fruit vegetable
- Grow tomatoes yourself
- Green and red fruits
- nutrient starvation
- Which location is suitable?
- sorts
Tomatoes have a whole range of positive effects on our health.
- They stimulate the appetite,
- drain,
- promote digestion,
- lower the cholesterol level in the blood,
- strengthen the body's immune system,
- prevent cancer by their cell protection,
- help against arteriosclerosis and purify the blood,
- reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.
Tomatoes are the most popular fruit vegetable in Germany. (Image: BillionPhotos.com/fotolia.com) Vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals
They contain a lot of water and low calories, plus a lot of vitamins C, B1, B 2, B 6, E, niacin, pantothenic acid and potassium. The concentration of vitamin C in the shell is three times as high as in the pulp. To a lesser extent, tomatoes provide iron, calcium, magnesium, manganese, copper, zinc, phosphorus and sodium. But especially important is lycopene. This carotenoid has an antioxidant effect. It protects the cell membrane of plants, also keeps human skin cells healthy and even lowers the level of LDL cholesterol in the blood, which prevents cardiovascular disease.
Lycopene absorbs the human body better over juice, marrow and puree than over fresh tomatoes, because lycopene develops when heated. In addition to lycopene, other phytochemicals in the plant also prevent arteriosclerosis and cancers: flavinoids, phenolic acids and terpenes.
Lycopene for cancer screening
Lycopene gives the fruit a red color. It has a firming effect and thus neutralizes free radicals in the body's cells. It is twice as effective as the carotene contained in carrots. According to one study, lycopene prevents prostate cancer. For example, study participants who consumed tomatoes ten times a week reduced their risk of developing prostate cancer by 45 percent. This also applies to colon, breast, lung and cervix cancer.
Lycopene for sunburn
Lycopene also protects against the UV rays of the sun by capturing the resulting free radicals that destroy skin cells. The protection from lycopene is increased, but you should not give up sunscreen even if you eat tomatoes.
Strengthening the immune system
Vitamin C and potassium strengthen the immune system. We already cover half of our daily vitamin C requirement with a large berry. Potassium is important for the water balance of the body. Also needed for a functioning immune system is iron. Although the fruit does not contain much of it, it is well absorbed by the body thanks to vitamin C..
blood purification
The raw fruits neutralize metabolic residues, drive the urine and strengthen the Nierenfunktiuon. In addition, they act in spite of their acid total alkaline and equal to the level of acids and bases, which helps against gout and counteracts hyperacidity.
hardening of the arteries
LDL cholesterol is attacked by free radicals, oxidizes and attaches to vessel walls. The altered cholesterol emits messengers, through which more and more blood cells migrate to the deposits in the vessels. The vessel narrows even more. The opening for blood flow is thus getting smaller. The antioxidants contained in tomatoes prevent this development by fighting the free radicals. Thus, regular consumption prevents blood vessel narrowing and reduces the risk of heart attacks and strokes.
Tomatoes strengthen the immune system and the skin. (Image: katinkah / fotolia.com) Origin in the New World
The nightshade plant is now completely commonplace. Hard to imagine that in the Middle Ages it was completely unknown in Europe. The "Spanish strawberry", as it was called in the early modern period, only came with the Spaniards from America. It probably originated in the very rainy regions of the Andes. This indicates her enormous need for water.
The natives of Mexico and Peru cultivated the plants for a long time, when the Spaniards invaded the "New World". Archaeologists found seeds that show that the Maya cultivated the fruits in Mesoamerica for centuries before Columbus arrived on the continent. The name probably comes from the language of the Aztecs: Xitomatl here means "swell". The Spaniards shortened the word to "tomato".
A poisonous love apple?
In Europe, it was not a crop for the time being, because our ancestors planted it - you hardly believe it - as jewelry in the garden. At first the fruits were considered poisonous. In addition, she was considered a "love berry". Those who ate the fruits should fall into unruly lust. Probably the round shape and the red color had inspired this fantasy, because both reminded of a heart. In France they were therefore called "pomme d'amour", so love apples, in Austria "Paradeiser" of paradise. So the contemporaries associated the fruit with the "forbidden apple," which "sinful Eve" nibbled in the Garden of Eden.
Quite so out of this fear was not at all: The fruits of the newcomer from America suspiciously resembled the black belladonna, which was also called Belladonna, because women rubbed the poisonous berries to enlarge the pupils in the eyes. A dangerous cosmetic, because the Alcaloid in the deadly nightshade can kill, it is hallucinogenic, can cause psychosis, leads to confusion and paralysis. In the US, the fear of tomato therefore lasted until the 18th century.
False suspects
The fear of the "Spanish berry" was rampant after nobles died who had previously eaten tomatoes. Today we know that it was not the food but the dishes of the murderers. The aristocrats had eaten the fruit from pewter bowls. When this tin comes into contact with acid, the lead drips into the fruit. The gentlemen died of lead poisoning.
Carl von Linnaeus correctly assigned the plant, wrongly called, to the nightshade family. Many of them contain toxins, alkaloids, some of which have a lethal effect on humans. In fact, two alkaloids, tomatidine and solanine, are also found in immature tomatoes. Larger quantities of unripe tomatoes therefore lead to slight, diarrhea-causing poisoning.
Tomato as food in Europe
The simple people were not dissuaded by the lead poisoning of the nobles from eating the red fruits. Here deadly consequences remained, because the poor used shells made of wood or clay. In Italy, people cooked in the 16th century with the "paradise apples".
These foods also became popular north of the Alps, first as a delicacy among far-traveled merchants, then in the bourgeoisie.
In 1880, the small red fruit balls started their triumphal march. In Naples, a cook designed a pizza for the ruler Margerita in the national colors of the country - with white mozzarella, green basil and red tomatoes. Today, the Pizza Margherita is one of the most popular foods in the world, combining two of the best harmonizing tastes ever: the sweet acidity of the fruit with the tart spice of the herb.
From America to Europe and back
In the US, the fear of the "poison plant" until the 18th century. In Mexico, indigenous people and immigrants continued to eat the prairie fruit trees that were cultivated a long time ago, but settlers north of the Rio Grande continued to shy away from them. Immigrants from southern Europe now brought the tomatoes to North America.
Four years before the Pizza Margherita another recipe brought the tomato in the Champion's league of the most consumed plants: John Henry Heinz invented the 1876 Heinz Ketchup.
Late arrival in Germany
From Spain, the plant migrated to Italy, and from there to Central Europe. In Germany we only know them from the end of the 19th century. This is due to the heat requirement of the originally tropical herb. Even today it is not a pure field plant. Pre-cultures in the home or in the greenhouse are necessary to bring our most popular vegetables to harvest. The vast majority of tomatoes we consume daily come from heated greenhouses. Commercial cultivation takes place in Central Europe almost exclusively under glass.
What should you pay attention to?
Variety, cultivation and ripeness of the fruit affect their nutritional content. Outdoor plants generally provide more lycopene than plants from the greenhouse. It is believed that it forms to protect the fruits from the UV rays of the sun. The content of beta-carotene can be read off the color. Green tomatoes before maturity contain only a quarter of the amount that red tomato have in full ripeness from this substance.
Enjoy raw and heated
The body can best absorb lycopene by searing the tomatoes in a little oil. Then the cell walls split, and the substance comes out. Lycopene survives the heating without problems.
Enjoying tomatoes hot and cold is healthy. (Image: BillionPhotos.com/ fotolia.com) Unfortunately it looks different with the vitamins. These are sensitive to heat. Therefore, you should take the fruit both heated to better absorb the lycopene, as well as enjoy raw to get the vitamins.
A fruit vegetable
Fruits are fruits of plants that emerge from their flowers. Vegetables, on the other hand, are plant parts such as leaves and stems (for example spinach), roots (for example carrots and turnips). Tomatoes are therefore fruit vegetables.
Grow tomatoes yourself
The countless varieties range from 20 cm high bushes to two meter high tendrils. Typical are the dark green leaves with fine hair, which emit a spicy fragrance.
From April we can grow the seeds individually in small pots of nutritious soil. They should be poured abundantly. The plants germinate quickly, the warmer it is, the better. From about 15 cm high we support them, first with small wooden sticks, later with bamboo poles and from the end of May with wooden racks. Now also the yellow flowers appear. They form in the leaf axils and pollinate themselves. As a germination place, a sunny windowsill or a heated small greenhouse are suitable. The temperature should be about 20 degrees. The small plants are allowed to go outside after the ice saints. You should really take this seriously, because even low degrees of frost can destroy the plants.
Green and red fruits
From the end of June to the beginning of July, the flowers turn into green fruits. Depending on the variety, they turn red, orange, yellow, brown or purple. Never eat them immature! As long as the fruits are still green, they contain solanine, a poisonous alkaloid. The ripe beads in full color you can pick regularly. The fruits do not all mature at the same time, so you can count on several edible specimens per plant and it will take several weeks for all the fruits of a shrub to ripen and be ready for harvest.
nutrient starvation
Tomatoes are nutrient and water-eaters. They love sun and warmth. So you have to water the plants vigorously in the morning and in the evening. Already a short drought, the plants indicate by hanging leaves. Once a week you satisfy the hunger for nutrients with nettle. Also a regularly renewed layer of full compost and / or grass clippings gladly accept the fruits.
We distinguish long stem tomatoes that need to be tethered and bush tomatoes that grow more in area than in height. They require little or no support and are better for the balcony. The fruits are roughly divided into the large ribbed beef tomatoes and the small cherry or cocktail tomatoes.
Tomatoes need a lot of sun and water. (Image: bidaya / fotolia.com) Which location is suitable?
Tomatoes need a place in the sun and a humus rich soil. The crumb should be loose, so that the water drains well. This is an important point: although tomatoes absorb a lot of water, they also react very sensitively to waterlogging. This is especially important in balcony plants: tomato pots should hold at least ten liters and have a good drain.
The best is a location that already contains many nutrients - a compost pile is ideal. In any case, you should enrich the soil, it is crap or rotting plants. You can keep the soil loose if you plant the plants at a distance of half a meter or more.
Once you put the plants in the ground, pour them neatly. After that, do not add water for a few days, then the roots can grow better. The plantlets should be in the soil down to the lowest leaf roots, then they will produce more fine root and better nutrients.
sorts
Tomatoes are mainly grown on taste. This depends on the sugar content and the fruit acids. The small cherry tomatoes taste particularly sweet, the large beef tomatoes contain less fruit acid and are suitable for salads and vegetables.
The most common, because most productive, varieties are tomato tomatoes. These include, for example, the yellow "Golden Queen", "Harzfeuer" or "Matina". Beef tomatoes carry big fruits with five or even more chambers. The Ochsenherztomaten are strongly ribbed, some also smooth, but all roughly heart-shaped. Oxheart, they are probably called, because the large specimens can weigh half a kilogram.
Cherry tomatoes are usually red, some varieties but also orange yellow, others blackish red, oblong like cornelian cherries or round like table tennis balls. Bush tomatoes are usually small enough for the terrace or the balcony. They fit in boxes, pots or tubs. Bottle tomatoes are usually ovoid, often taste intense, cut well, are firm and poor in water. (Dr. Utz Anhalt)