Origins and relationship to wild tomatoes Cherry tomatoes are closely related to the wild ancestral forms of all cultivated tomatoes. Wild tomatoes (
Solanum pimpinellifolium and related species) naturally produce small, cherry-sized fruits and are native to western
South America, particularly the
Andes region and coastal areas of
Peru,
Ecuador, and northern
Chile. These wild species represent the genetic foundation from which all modern tomatoes, both large and small, were developed.
Domestication and spread The tomato is thought to have been first domesticated in the
Puebla-
Veracruz region of
Mexico, likely arriving from South America in the form of small-fruited wild or semi-domesticated varieties that resembled modern cherry tomatoes. Over thousands of years, indigenous peoples in
Mesoamerica selectively bred these small tomatoes, with some lineages developed into larger varieties while others maintained the small fruit size characteristic of cherry tomatoes.
Early European documentation The first direct reference to cherry tomatoes in European literature appears in 1623, in
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".
Modern popularity and development Cherry tomatoes have been popular in the
United States since at least 1919. Recipes using cherry tomatoes can be found in articles dating back to 1967.
Commercial breeding advances In the 1970s,
Israeli agricultural scientists developed commercial novelty varieties of cherry tomatoes, building upon existing cherry tomato genetics to create cultivars better suited for modern commercial production and export.
Nathan Goldenberg approached Professor
Nahum Kedar and Professor
Haim Rabinowitch from the Faculty of Agriculture at the
Hebrew University in Jerusalem with the idea of developing enhanced cherry tomato varieties. The researchers were already working on developing tomato varieties suitable for cultivation in hot climates, including regular tomato varieties with extended shelf life, as part of Israeli government agricultural initiatives. == Cultivars ==