Cherry tomato | |
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Variety: | cerasiforme
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Trinomial name | |
Solanum lycopersicum var. cerasiforme | |
Synonyms | |
Lycopersicon lycopersicum var. cerasiforme |
The cherry tomato is a type of small round tomato believed to be an intermediate genetic admixture between wild currant-type tomatoes and domesticated garden tomatoes. [2] Cherry tomatoes range in size from a thumbtip up to the size of a golf ball, and can range from spherical to slightly oblong in shape. Although usually red, other colours such as orange, yellow, green, purple, and black also exist. [3] Those shaped like an oblong share characteristics with plum tomatoes and are known as grape tomatoes. The cherry tomato is regarded as a botanical variety of the cultivated berry, Solanum lycopersicum var. cerasiforme. [4]
"The cherry tomato... is believed to be the direct ancestor of modern cultivated tomatoes and is the only wild tomato found outside South America." [5] The tomato is thought to have been first domesticated in the Puebla-Veracruz area of Mexico and to have reached this area from South America in the form of a weedy cherry tomato. [5]
The first direct reference to the cherry tomato appears in 1623, in a work called Pinax theatri botanici (English: Illustrated exposition of plants) by Swiss botanist Caspar Bauhin, which contains descriptions and classifications of approximately six thousand species. In a section on "Solanum" (nightshades), Bauhin wrote of a variety called Solanum racemosum cerasoru[m] forma, which translates to " Solanum [that is] full of clusters [racemosum], in the form (shape) of cherries". [6]
Cherry tomatoes have been popular in the United States since at least 1919. [7] Recipes using cherry tomatoes can be found in articles dating back to 1967. [8]
The Tomaccio tomato was developed by Nahum Kedar and Chaim Rabinovitch of the Agriculture Facility of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem on its Rehovot Campus. It is the result of a 12-year breeding program using wild Peruvian tomato species to create a sweet snack tomato with improved ripening time and shelf life. [9] [10]
The Super Sweet 100 is a hybrid cultivar popular in the United States and resistant to both Fusarium and Verticillium wilt.
The Selke Biodynamic cherry tomato is named after Margrit Selke. [11]
The indeterminate hybrid sungold cherry tomato is known for its vigorous early-yielding plants and colorful orange fruits.
Media related to Solanum lycopersicum var. cerasiforme at Wikimedia Commons