'', 1558. Naturalis Leiden. The likely wild ancestor of the tomato, the red-fruited
Solanum pimpinellifolium, is native to western South America, where it was probably first domesticated. The resulting domesticated plant, ancestral to the modern large-fruited tomato varieties, was probably the cherry tomato,
S. lycopersicum var.
cerasiforme. However, genomic analysis suggests that the domestication process may have been more complex than this.
S. lycopersicum var.
cerasiforme may have existed before domestication, while traits supposedly typical of domestication may have been reduced in that variety and then reselected (in a case of
convergent evolution) in the cultivated tomato. The analysis predicts that var.
cerasiforme appeared around 78,000 years ago, while the cultivated tomato originated around 7,000 years ago (5,000 BCE), with substantial uncertainty, making it unclear how humans may have been involved in the process. The Spanish first introduced tomatoes to Europe, where they became used in Spanish food. Elsewhere in Europe, its first use was ornamental, not least because it was understood to be related to the
nightshades and assumed to be poisonous.
Mesoamerica While the tomato's wild ancestors grow in Chile, Peru, Ecuador, the fruit was domesticated by precontact Central American farmers. The exact date of domestication is unknown; by 500 BCE, it was already being cultivated in southern
Mexico and probably other areas. A large, lumpy variety of tomato, a mutation from a smoother, smaller fruit, originated in Mesoamerica, and may be the direct ancestor of some modern cultivated tomatoes. The
Aztecs raised several varieties of tomato, with red tomatoes called .
Bernardino de Sahagún reported seeing a great variety of tomatoes in the Aztec market at Tenochtitlán (Mexico City): "large tomatoes, small tomatoes, leaf tomatoes, sweet tomatoes, large serpent tomatoes, nipple-shaped tomatoes", and tomatoes of all colors from the brightest red to the deepest yellow. Sahagún mentioned Aztecs cooking various sauces, some with tomatoes of different sizes, serving them in city markets: "foods sauces, hot sauces; ... with tomatoes, ... sauce of large tomatoes, sauce of ordinary tomatoes, ..."
Spanish distribution 's arrival in Mexico (portrayed here) and his conquest of the
Aztecs, the tomato was brought to Europe in the
Columbian exchange. After the
Spanish colonization of the Americas, the Spanish distributed the tomato throughout their colonies in the
Caribbean. After they introduced it to the
Philippines, it spread to
Southeast Asia and then across Asia.
China The tomato was introduced to China, likely via the Philippines or Macau, in the 16th century. It was given the name 番茄 (foreign eggplant), as the Chinese named many foodstuffs introduced from abroad, but referring specifically to early introductions.
Italy is a well-known
plum tomato highly prized for making
pizza. In 1548, the house steward of
Cosimo de' Medici, the grand duke of
Tuscany, wrote to the Medici private secretary informing him that the basket of tomatoes sent from the grand duke's Florentine estate at
Torre del Gallo "had arrived safely". Tomatoes were grown mainly as ornamentals early on after their arrival in Italy. For example, the Florentine aristocrat Giovanvettorio Soderini wrote how they "were to be sought only for their beauty", and were grown only in gardens or flower beds. The tomato's ability to mutate and create new and different varieties helped contribute to its success and spread throughout Italy. However, in areas where the climate supported growing tomatoes, their habit of growing close to the ground suggested low status. They were not adopted as a staple of the peasant population because they were not as filling as other crops. Additionally, both toxic and inedible varieties discouraged many people from attempting to consume or prepare any other varieties. In certain areas of Italy, such as Florence, the fruit was used solely as a tabletop decoration, until it was incorporated into the local cuisine in the late 17th or early 18th century. The earliest discovered cookbook with tomato recipes was published in
Naples in 1692, though the author had apparently obtained these recipes from Spanish sources. Varieties were developed over the following centuries for drying, for sauce, for pizzas, and for long-term storage. These varieties are usually known for their place of origin as much as by a variety name. For example, there is the , the "hanging tomato of Vesuvius", and the well known and highly prized
San Marzano tomato grown in that region, with a European
protected designation of origin certification.
Britain Tomatoes were not grown in England until the 1590s. One of the earliest cultivators was
John Gerard, a
barber-surgeon. Gerard's
Herbal, published in 1597, and largely
plagiarized from continental sources, is also one of the earliest discussions of the tomato in England. Gerard knew the tomato was eaten in Spain and Italy. Nonetheless, he believed it was poisonous. Gerard's views were influential, and the tomato was considered unfit for eating for many years in
Britain and its
North American colonies. By 1820, tomatoes were described as "to be seen in great abundance in all our vegetable markets" and to be "used by all our best cooks", reference was made to their cultivation in gardens still "for the singularity of their appearance", while their use in cooking was associated with exotic Italian or Jewish cuisine. For example, in
Elizabeth Blackwell's
A Curious Herbal, it is described under the name "Love Apple ()" as being consumed with oil and vinegar in Italy, similar to consumption of cucumbers in the UK. In 1963,
The New York Times gave an explanation of the name 'Love Apple' as a French misreading of the Italian ("the Moors' apple") as , ("apple of love").
Middle East The tomato was introduced to cultivation in the Middle East by
John Barker, British consul in
Aleppo . Nineteenth century descriptions of its consumption are uniformly as an ingredient in a cooked dish. In 1881, it is described as only eaten in the region "within the last forty years".
United States ,
cherry, and
grape varieties in
Hawaii. The earliest reference to tomatoes being grown in
British North America is from 1710, when herbalist
William Salmon saw them in what is today
South Carolina, perhaps introduced from the Caribbean. By the mid-18th century, they were cultivated on some Carolina plantations, and probably in other parts of the Southeast.
Thomas Jefferson, who ate tomatoes in Paris, sent some seeds back to America. Some early American advocates of the culinary use of the tomato included
Michele Felice Cornè and
Robert Gibbon Johnson. Many Americans considered tomatoes to be poisonous at this time and, in general, they were grown more as
ornamental plants than as food. In 1897, W.H. Garrison stated, "The belief was once transmitted that the tomato was sinisterly dangerous." He recalled in his youth tomatoes were dubbed "love-apples or wolf-apples" and shunned as "globes of the devil". When
Alexander W. Livingston (1821–1898) began developing the tomato as a commercial crop, his aim had been to grow tomatoes smooth in contour, uniform in size, and sweet in flavor. He eventually developed over seventeen varieties. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's 1937 yearbook declared that "half of the major varieties were a result of the abilities of the Livingstons to evaluate and perpetuate superior material in the tomato". Livingston's first breed of tomato, the Paragon, was introduced in 1870. In 1875, he introduced the Acme, said to be in the parentage of most cultivars for the next twenty-five years. Other early breeders included Henry Tilden in Iowa and a Dr. Hand in Baltimore. Because of the tomato's need for heat and a long growing season, several states in the
Sun Belt became major producers, particularly
Florida and
California. In California, tomatoes are grown under
irrigation for both the fresh market and for
canning and processing. The
University of California, Davis's C.M. Rick Tomato Genetics Resource Center maintains a gene bank of wild relatives, monogenic mutants and genetic stocks. Research on processing tomatoes is also conducted by the California Tomato Research Institute in
Escalon, California. In California, growers have used a method of cultivation called
dry-farming, especially with
Early Girl tomatoes. This technique encourages the plant to send roots deep to find existing moisture. == Botany ==