What’s in a word – Tomato!
Recommended for Preparatory Grades
Which ‘vegetable’ is actually a fruit and used to be considered poisonous? Yes, the very popular tomato!
Fun facts about tomatoes!
- Tomatoes and brinjals are part of the nightshade family. South America was the first place it was grown (together with potato, tobacco and chilli peppers).
- The Aztecs were the first people who used it a lot (a civilisation that flourished in central Mexico from 1300 to 1521). It then moved to the rest of South America.
- Around 1500, the Spanish were the ones who brought it to Europe. But people didn’t eat it because they thought it was poisonous. But they found out later that it is tasty and not poisonous. Since then, it has only gotten more and more popular.
- True to its origin, the English word ‘tomato’ comes from the Spanish word tomate. Tomate, in turn, comes from the Nahuatl word tomatl, said to mean “the swelling fruit”. The Nahuatl was the language used by the Aztecs.
Watch a time-lapse video on a tomato plant being grown indoors.
Video credit: RapidLapse/Youtube
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