Tag: Tomatoes

Amusing

The World’s Largest Tomato

The world's largest tomato

Now that’s a tomato!

A new tomato, called Gigantomo, can grow up to 10 inches wide and as heavy as 3lbs – about 12 times the size of an average salad tomato.

The revolutionary tomatoes have now gone on sale in Britain just in time for gardeners to buy them before spring arrives.

The tomatoes are so large that one tomato alone can serve up to four people, and just one slice fills an entire burger bun or sandwich.

Each plant can grow to 6ft tall and yield as many as 11 tomatoes but must be supported to prevent it buckling under the weight of the fruit.

The new variety is the result of almost two decades of research and development by breeders in the UK and the US.

Simon Crawford, one of the UK’s leading plant breeders, was called in five years ago to finish the work of late American grower Paul Thomas, who spent 15 years trying to breed the huge tomato.

Mr Thomas passed away before he saw his tomatoes hit the market, but Mr Crawford was able to complete the breeding programme to ensure there would be enough seed to sell commercially.

They were launched in the US last year by seed company Burpee and sold under the name SteakHouse.

The huge tomatoes were such a hit that they have now been brought across the Atlantic but EU chiefs ruled the name unacceptable so it was changed to Gigantomo.

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Amusing Information

Jet Black Tomatoes

Jet Black Tomatoes
Photo: Plant World Seeds

A plant nursery has become the first in Britain to grow BLACK tomatoes. The unusual fruit, which has a jet black skin, is among the first in the world to contain anthocyanins, an antioxidant thought to have a number of health benefits. Its unusual colour stems from pigments in the skin which develop when exposed to sunlight.

Ray Brown, 66, who runs Plant World Seeds, first came across the unusual fruit when a customer sent him a mystery package entitled “black tomato”. Disbelieving the label, he sowed the product and was stunned by the outcome.

The ‘Indigo Rose’ is a new, strangely-colored variety of tomato. The fruit is jet black on the outside and juicy purple-red on the inside. These colors might not sound very appealing, but black tomatoes are supposed to be very tasty, and most importantly, rich in antioxidants. Indigo Rose is a cross-breed between red and purple tomatoes, and is the latest ‘superfood’ to hit the market.

I have to admit, I never even knew that purple tomatoes exist. The modified fruit, bred by scientists in America, contain a special antioxidant called anthocyanin. Anthocyanin is responsible for fighting diseases like diabetes and obesity, and is the main pigment that lends the tomato its purple color. And when the purple tomatoes are mixed with the regular red ones, the resultant breed turns out black.

Black tomatoes were first bred by Professor Jim Myers at the University of Oregon, during a graduate study about the health benefits of tomatoes. When they discovered that purple tomatoes contained anthocyanin, which also provides color to blueberries, they decided to cross them with some wild red ones. Eventually, they came up with a black strain.

“It is the first improved tomato variety in the world that has anthocyanins in its fruit,” said Prof. Myers. “It (the breeding) will lead to a better understanding on how the antioxidants express in tomatoes and may contribute to human health. They (anthocyanin) have many varied effects on human health, but while they are powerful antioxidants in the test tube, we don’t really know whether they have an antioxidant effect on the human body,” he added.

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Amusing

How Ketchup Packets Work In Australia

Adam McDowell demonstrates how ketchup (or tomato sauce) packets work in Australia. They’re a little different from the North American version where you have to tear open one side to squeeze out the ketchup.

For some reason, ketchup packets often served with fast food haven’t advanced in years. They’re still tiny packets that require a tear resulting in most of the tomato sauce going to waste.

But Australia has apparently figured out a better way.

“Brilliant!”

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