As most reference books say, tomato is a plant in the nightshade family. In Latin, the name of the culture sounds - Solánum lycopérsicum. Tomato is cultivated as a vegetable crop, and its fruits are most often called tomatoes. Moreover, the type of fruit is a berry. Does this mean that a tomato is a berry?
Today, due to the fact that tomato has valuable nutritional and dietary properties, a variety of varieties, as well as high responsiveness to proper care when growing, it is one of the most popular crops on the planet. Tomatoes grow on open ground, they bear fruit well under the film, in glass and film greenhouses. Often you can see this plant on balconies and loggias, and sometimes on the windowsills in the rooms.
Using this culture, we almost never think whether a tomato is a berry or a vegetable? And this question was even the reason for the
trial. So, back in 1893, the United States Supreme Court issued a verdict according to which a tomato was considered a vegetable. Perhaps the reason for this decision was in the economic plane. After all, the import of vegetables, unlike fruits, was subject to
customs duty. But be that as it may, the decision was made on the basis that the tomato is usually eaten on the second for meat or fish.
That is, this culture is not a dessert, which distinguishes it from fruits.
But claims that the tomato is a berry have not stopped. And they found their confirmation at the official level relatively recently - in 2001.
Then the EU authorities ordered the tomato to be considered a fruit.
But ordinary people, both in European countries and here, still for the most part consider tomato a vegetable.
However, from the fact that a tomato is a berry, or a vegetable, its properties do not become less useful. Lycopene - a unique natural substance that contains tomatoes in large quantities, has simply miraculous properties. Thanks to this substance, the use of tomatoes in food helps to reduce the concentration of cholesterol in the blood and lower blood pressure. Lycopene in large quantities is also actively fighting obesity and blood clots.
It is very useful to enjoy tomatoes for middle-aged men. After all, if there is not enough lycopene in their body, the risk of suffering a heart attack or stroke increases three times. The antitumor effect, an obstacle to the division of cancer cells, which prevents the development of oncology, is also attributed to tomatoes. By the way, tomato berry is one of the few plant crops that do not lose their beneficial properties when exposed to high temperatures. Moreover, the amount of lycopene in tomatoes during their cooking or frying increases by one and a half times. According to scientists from the Cancer Center in Memphis, if you use fresh or heat-treated tomatoes every day, you can significantly reduce the risk of skin cancer (melanoma) and prostate gland and get rid of some cardiovascular diseases.
But still, is a tomato a berry? Never mind. The main thing is that a tomato is tasty and healthy.