Tomato – A fruit or vegetable?
In the United States of America, in 1883, was tried a high pressure legal case whose center of conflict was ‘A Tomato’. Who would have thought that the subject matter of the conflict would be as trivial as ‘Is the tomato a fruit or vegetable’? But yes, it was so. Scientifically, tomatoes fall into the fruit category and while cooking, tomatoes are treated as vegetables. The court verdict was unexpectedly biased which was that tomato was a vegetable owing to its presence in the main course and not in the dessert.
Tomatoes are very popular around the world for their nutritious content and antioxidant properties. The tomato bears a lot of resemblance to eggplants and bell peppers that have small seeds embedded inside the flesh. Though it has a setup as that of vegetables, it tastes more like citric fruits like orange and lime. Hence, it is this blend of fruit and vegetable properties that give the tomato its uniqueness. Over a period of ages, this fruit has evolved more as a vegetable and has been adopted by various cultures in their own method of sacred food preparation.
Tomato Production
Tomatoes are propagated through seeds present inside the fruit. Caring for tomato seedlings can be a daunting task. Nowadays, the organic method of production is what is preferred to the chemical treatments. Initial requirements include that the land be between mean sea level and 1500m altitude. A not-so-wet sandy loam soil is preferable. Selecting high yielding and pest resisting seeds is the most important task in producing organic tomatoes. Chemical treatment of seeds is a strict no-no. Separate tomato beds are prepared (around 15 in 1 acre land) and the seeds are planted. The saplings sprout around 14-18 days after planting and are transplanted again for reasons like pest control, soil-moisture control and temperature control.
Yellow tomato leaves
There are several reasons for the tomato leaves to get yellow. Lets consider case by case examples. When yellow leaves on tomatoes are noticed, its most common reason might be that the leaves were not getting enough sunlight and soil moisture. After we have ensured that that is not the reason then we must check for lack of nitrogen content in the land. This can be rectified by adding organic manure to the soil. Occasionally yellow tomato leaves imply pests or weeds problem. Also these plants are prone to bacterial and fungal infections which are the cause for and the land where it is cultivated. The different types of tomatoes are red tomatoes, green tomatoes and cherry tomatoes. Here ends the great debate if the juicy tomato is a fruit or a vegetable with the scales tilting towards the title of vegetable.