Tomatoes, bush

It was the Spanish conquistadors who brought the first tomato plants from Central America. The name tomato is derived from the Aztec word “tomatl”, which simply means ‘a bulging, swollen thing’. However, its relationship to ‘witches' herbs’ such as belladonna and henbane meant that it was initially considered poisonous in Europe and was met with a great deal of scepticism.

However, the Italians were one of the first to venture into the fruit, which had previously been considered poisonous, and created the ingenious combination of pasta and tomatoes. Farmers from Parma later began preserving tomatoes by boiling down the juice and drying the fruit in the sun. Today, the low-calorie fruit vegetable is appreciated all over the world. Eating tomatoes has a stimulating effect on the whole body and protects against infections, as the sun-ripened, organically grown fruit is rich in vitamins and minerals, fruit acids and essential oils.
There are probably over 2500 different varieties in total. Tomatoes naturally come in all possible shades of red. Their colour ranges from orange to yellow to green ripening varieties, even dark green and dark purple to dark red mackerel varieties are known. Their shape ranges from round, date- or egg-shaped, often furrowed, heart-shaped or more paprika-like.