Tomato

Article By:

Robinson, R. W. Department of Seed and Vegetable Sciences, New York State Agricultural Experiment Station, Cornell University. Ithaca, New York.

Clark, Raymond L. North Central Regional Plant Introduction Station, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Ames, Iowa.

Rick, Charles M. Department of Vegetable Crops, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, University of California, Davis, California.

Stall, Robert E. Plant Pathology Department, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida.

Last reviewed:January 2020

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.699800

An important vegetable plant belonging to the genus Solanum, especially Solanum lycopersicum (alternatively Lycopersicon esculentum), that is grown for its fleshy edible fruit, which is red, pink, orange, yellow, white, or green, with fleshy placentas containing many small, oval seeds with short hairs and covered with a gelatinous matrix. Solanum species are native to South America, especially Peru, and the Galápagos Islands. The tomato was first domesticated in Mexico, and its name is derived from the Aztec word xitomatl. See also: Fruit; Horticultural crops

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