Experiments on the Spoilage of Tomato Ketchup

The tomato, Lycopersicum esculentum, is supposed to be native to South or Central America. The large fruits commonly used grow only under cultivation, but the variety with small, spherical fruits, known as L. cerasiforme, has been found on the shore of Peru and is considered by De Candolle as belonging to the same species as L. esculentum. Though grown extensively in Europe, there is nothing to indicate that it was known there before the discovery of America. The tomato was introduced into China and Japan at a comparatively recent date. De Candolle is of the opinion that the tomato was taken to Europe by the Spaniards from Peru and was later introduced into the United States by Europeans. Tomatoes were brought to Salem, Mass., by an Italian painter in 1802, who is said to have had difficulty in convincing the people that they were edible. They were used in New Orleans in 1812, though as late as 1835 they were sold by the dozen in Boston. After 1840 they came into general use in the Eastern States, but it was later than this before tomatoes were used freely in the Western States, many persons having the impression that, since they belonged to the nightshade family, they must be unwholesome. The extent to which tomatoes are used at the present time shows how completely this prejudice has been overcome.

The name Lycopersicum is from two Greek words, meaning a wolf, and a peach, the application of these terms not being apparent; the name of the species, esculentum, is from the Latin, meaning eatable. The common name "tomato" is of South or Central American origin, and is believed to be the term used in an ancient American dialect to designate the plant,[C] but its meaning is unknown. The English call the tomato "love apple," which in French is "pomme d'amour."

The tomato is considered a typical berry, the ovary wall, free from the calyx, forming the fleshy pericarp, which incloses chambers filled with a clear matrix containing the seeds.