It’s August and the weather is so favourable, fruit and vegetables are all blossoming and ripening to the fullest. This is the time of the year when the farmers markets, supermarkets, grocery stores all stock their shelves with assorted fresh fruit and vegetables that are just super attractive to behold. Although certain fruit and vegetables are all year rounders, yet some are more expensive at certain period of the year while others tend to be cheaper at some other times of the year.
One of such vegetables is the tomatoes, which are easily available all year round but are usually cheaper during the summer period, which is when they are at the highest peak of maturation and ripening. Besides, it is during summer (dry seasons) that you will spot assorted varieties of tomatoes displayed at the supermarkets and the farmers markets. Over the weekend, Iyke and I went shopping at Costco for our monthly bulky buys. While I was busy looking around at the fruit and vegetables section to see if I can sight any of the items on my long list, there and then I immediately sighted some cute-tiny looking cherry-like fruit.
Because the fruit looked sort of strange to me, I decided to give it a closer look to know exactly what it could be. I had to raise up the fruit pack to read the label and it stated thus; tomberry tomatoes (World's smallest tomatoes). I immediately beckoned on Iyke to come and have a glance at this spectacular tomato and him too was also amazed to see such tempting, tiny-like and beautifully package tomatoes.
I picked one pack immediately because I knew that I was going to share it with my lovely fans and here I am right now sharing this post with you on what you need to know about these cute-looking tomberries. To tell you that I never knew that such type of tomato specie ever existed is an understatement. The tomberries are so amazing and enticing because they look so much like tiny berries and as the name tomberry suggests, they are more or less special berries.
The prompt question that came to my mind was; where is the origin of these tomberry tomatoes and who are the cultivars? Thank goodness, because the label stated it categorically that it is from Netherlands Holland by Sunset greenhouse grown.
When we got home, the first thing I did was to wash and chew 3 of the tomberries to know how they really taste and behold, they taste just amazing. Very sweet, refreshing and tempting to eat! You know what, I immediately decided to make a unique recipe of tomberries yoghurt. The recipe post will be up very shortly. I can tell you for sure that the tomberry tomatoes yoghurt tasted very classical and super delicious. I can tell you for sure that the recipe is a perfect option and I have no doubt that you will enjoy it once you try it out.
My quest to unearth more information about the tomberry tomatoes is the motivation behind this post. According to some studies, the tomberry tomatoes are an annual tomato specie that belongs to the Solanaceae family that is often cultivated in greenhouses in cooler climates.
Tomberry tomatoes are an edible reddish berry-like vegetable-fruit of the nightshade Solanum lycopersicum. The species are originally from Netherlands with a measurement of 0.5 to 1 cm in diameter. Other specie of tomatoes that are similar to tomberry tomatoes is the cherry tomatoes which are also very small in appearance.
As you may have known, tomato is among the most vital vegetable crop all over the world as they are used by every countries in preparing different cuisines. The tomberry tomatoes on the other hand are mainly prevalent in the Netherlands from where they are distributed to other parts of the world especially Europe. The tomberry tomatoes are mainly planted from a wild strain of tomato plant. They are characteristically tiny in appearance similar to the size of cherries or blueberries.
Moreover, they are characteristically sweet in taste with a distinctive taste from other tomato species. The tomberry tomatoes are ideal for garnishing salads, preparing omelettes, sauces, drinks or any dish of choice. Tomberry tomatoes usually measure approximately 1cm or 0.4inches in length and they are just 1/2000th the size of beefsteak tomatoes, however some tomberry tomatoes measure approximately 5cm in diameter.
As the name suggests, this special specie of tomato is called a tomberry because they are very tiny in size and looks so much like a berry. However, regardless the tiny appearance of this tomato, it's very flavourful, aromatic, appetizing, sweet, tasteful and packed with numerous antioxidants, minerals and vitamins thus very healthy for human consumptions.
The tomberry tomato is of nightshade Solanaceae family that is usually available between April and November. Tomberry tomato is an excellent source of lycopene, which is very beneficial to human health. Ideally, the tomberry tomatoes should be preserved at room temperature. Interestingly, the tomberry tomatoes can be easily grown at home, so nothing stops you from selecting some of the seeds and then cultivating them for germination. I am definitely going to give this a try and see how well it thrives from the comfort zone of my garden.
BENEFITS OF TOMBERRY TOMATOES
(1) Culinary purposes
Tomberry tomato belongs to the tomato family hence can serve as a vegetable for cooking food or garnishing dishes due to its aromatic flavor.
(2) Nutritional Value
Tomberry tomatoes contain carotene, anthocyanin, lycopene and other antioxidants that are capable of preventing prostate cancer. These antioxidants are also capable of improving the skin's protection against harmful UV rays as well as maintain youthful skin appearance. Tomberry tomato is also an excellent source of vitamin C, vitamin A, dietary fiber, vitamin B-6, calcium, magnesium and potassium.
(3) Degenerative Diseases of Treatment
Tomatoes also have protective properties that fight against neuro-degenerative diseases.
(4) Cardiovascular Disease Treatment
Researchers agree that including tomatoes in our diets can be very helpful in reducing cardiovascular risk linked with type 2 diabetes.
REFERENCES
Paran, I. and Van der Knaap E. (2007), Genetic and molecular regulation of fruit and plant domestication traits in tomato and pepper, Journal Expt.Bot. 58, pp. 3841–3844.
Toroitich, F.J., Knapp, M., Nderitu, J.H., Olubayo, F.M and Obonyo, M, (2014), Susceptibility of geographically isolated populations of the Tomato red spider mite (Tetranychus evansi Baker & Pritchard) to commonly used acaricides on tomato crops in Kenya, Journal of Entomological and Acarological Research, Vol 46: 1469 pp 18-20.
Turhan, A. (2009), Estimation of certain chemical constituents of fruits of selected tomato genotypes grown in Turkey, African Journal of Agricultural Research, 4(10): pp. 1086–1088.
Viet B. T. N. T. and Trang H. T. (2015), Effect of Harvesting Stages and Storage Temperature on Physicochemical Properties and Antioxidant Activities of Yellow Cherry Tomato (Lycopersicon Esculentum Var.Cerasiforme), International Journal of Engineering Research & Technology (IJERT), Vol. 4 Issue 06, pp.501-502.
