TOMATO |GOLVEDA : गोल्भेडा | |MOST POPULAR VEGETABLE IN 2020|

Scientific Name: Lycopersicum esulentum

Common Name: Tomato, Golveda, Tamatar

Family: Solanaceae

Altitude: upto1000m 

Season: Spring and Summer

Parts Used: Edible Berry

Description:

Tomato

Tomatoes are the darlings of every kitchen household. Though originated in America, their extensive cultivation for the edible berries has made tomatoes, the most popular vegetable in the world  and  number #1 home garden crop for most individuals. Their dense nutritional content and low calorie feature have made them superfoods with numerous health benefits to the range of bodily systems. 

Plant Description

Tomato Buds

Tomatoes are herbaceous, perennial vines that grow as a series of branching stems with a terminal bud at the tip that does the actual growing. This seasonal plant typically grows 1-3m in height with a weak woody stem which requires support to stand. It thrives in warm temperature with adequate light. Insufficient light supply may reduce the fruit yield. The optimal temperature for the best growth is 23°C-27°C (source).

Is tomato a fruit or a vegetable?

Botanically, tomato is a fruit with consisting of the ovary along with the seed of a flowering plant. But because of very much low sugar content in comparison to other fruits it is considered as a vegetable. In fact, the Supreme Court of the United Sates of America in 1893 ruled the decision that tomatoes should be considered as culinary vegetable rather than fruits.

Medicinal Value

Tomatoes are considered very essential ingredients to individual diets due to the wide range of nutritional content. Consumption of tomatoes and tomato based products can really help to maintain a good health of skin, heart eyes and whole body. Some of the most essential health benefits tomatoes are mentioned below:

Tomatoes

• Consumption of tomatoes and lycopene rich tomato based products protects skin against photodamage and sunburn (1*)

• Studies have shown that the consumption of tomato for high serum concentration of lycopene decreases the risk of strokes in men. Maintains heart health (2*)

• It was concluded that nutritional content of tomato may play modest role in prevention of prostrate cancer (3*) 

• Carotenoids in it may protect against development of breast cancer (4*)

• The considerable amount of calcium and vitamin K in tomatoes help to maintain strong bones (5*)

• Tomatoes contain fairly good amount of Vitamin A, Vitamin C and β-Carotene which work as antioxidant (6*)

• Vitamin A found in tomatoes help to improve eye health (7*)

• Tomatoes work effectively to maintain blood sugar level, Hence they are very useful for diabetics(8*)

• Researches have concluded that tomato juice may be the treatment of choice for kidney stones (9*)

Nutritional Value

It is of no secret that tomato is a very rich source of wide range of nutrition. The nutritional content of tomatoes is shown below:

Nutrient Content in Tomato (source: USDA Nutrient Database)

Global Production Profile of Tomatoes

According to a report by Statista in 2019, tomato is the most produced vegetable type all around the world. 

World Tomato production Map

Among the countries of the world the biggest producer of tomatoes is China with nearly 33% of the total global production followed by India and then the USA. According to World Top Exports, global sales for all tomatoes exported by countries totaled an estimate of US $9B for the year 2019. Below are the 15 countries that exported the highest dollar value worth of tomatoes during 2019. 

• Mexico: US$2.2 billion (24.1% of total exported tomatoes)
• Netherlands: $2 billion (22%)
• Spain: $1.1 billion (11.7%)
• Morocco: $765.2 million (8.5%)
• France: $381.5 million (4.3%)
• Canada: $379.2 million (4.2%)
• Belgium: $308.9 million (3.4%)
• Turkey: $303.1 million (3.4%)
• United States: $291.7 million (3.3%)
• China: $200.2 million (2.2%)
• Azerbaijan: $189.3 million (2.1%)
• Italy: $131.8 million (1.5%)
• Poland: $71.1 million (0.8%)
• Portugal: $67.6 million (0.8%)
• Belarus: $52.2 million (0.6%)  (source)

Tomato Production and Consumption Profile of Nepal:

Tomato is known as poor man's apple in Nepal. Due to the introduction of plastic house for off season cultivation of plants, tomatoes are cultivated throughout the year. According to a research paper, Assessment of consumption and Demand in Nepal, Nepalese market fulfills its 21.8% tomatoes demand from home production and remaining 78.2% by import. 

Cultivation

Cultivation of tomatoes can be basically categorized in six different operations:

Tomato Cultivation

• Seeding Production

• Bed Preparation

• Transplantation

• Intercultural (weeding, staking, fertilization, pesticide application)

• Irrigation 

• Harvesting

My Recipe for Tomato Pickle (Golveda Achar)

The major ingredient of my tomato pickle are:

• Salt
• Hariyo Khursani (Green Chilly)
• Timur (Zanthoxylum)
• Silaam / Tirkulo (Perilla)
• Bhango (Hemp Seeds)
• Golveda (Tomato)

Tomato Pickle Ingredients

Take a half full table spoon of salt, 1 healthy green chilly, 1 full table spoon of Perilla seeds, quarter full spoon of hemps seeds, 4/5 seeds of timur and grind all of them. Then take grilled 3-4 grilled tomatoes and grind again till a fine paste of Golveda achar is obtained.

Hope you enjoyed the reading.