"The fruit of love" cherry tomato (small tomato): is it a fruit or a vegetable? Is it genetically modified? Is it high in calories?
Cherry tomato, often called small tomato, is known as the "little golden fruit" and the "fruit of love." It is not only bright in color and beautiful in shape, but also pleasant in taste and rich in nutrients. So is the cherry tomato a fruit or a vegetable? Is it genetically modified?
The cherry tomato, whose official Chinese name is cherry tomato, is an annual herbaceous plant belonging to the genus Solanum in the nightshade family. It is both a vegetable and a fruit, and the plant can grow up to 2 m at its tallest. It has the effects of promoting fluid production and quenching thirst, strengthening the stomach and aiding digestion, clearing heat and detoxifying, cooling the blood and calming the liver, nourishing the blood, and stimulating appetite. It is not only bright in color and beautiful in shape, but also pleasant in taste and rich in nutrients. In addition to containing all the nutrients found in tomatoes, its vitamin content is higher than that of ordinary tomatoes. It is listed by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization as one of the “four major fruits” prioritized for promotion.
Is the cherry tomato genetically modified?
Genetically modified food uses artificial methods to transfer genes from other organisms into crops. For example, transferring a flower's genes or a tree's genes into a person would be genetic modification. The cherry tomato is a “primitive tomato” variety. By recombining the excellent traits of the small, cherry-sized tomato, which has excellent taste and flavor, through conventional hybridization, the cherry tomato was obtained, so it is not a genetically modified product.
The benefits of cherry tomatoes
1. Slowing pigmentation and delaying aging
Lycopene is a very strong antioxidant. Supplementing with lycopene resists aging, strengthens the immune system, and reduces the occurrence of disease. Lycopene can also reduce the degeneration of the eye's macula and reduce pigmentation. Therefore, the tomato has the reputation of being the “longevity fruit.”
2. Anti-cancer
Studies show that lycopene can effectively prevent prostate cancer, digestive tract cancer, liver cancer, lung cancer, breast cancer, bladder cancer, uterine cancer, skin cancer, and others.
3. Can lower lipids and blood pressure
For patients with lowered blood pressure who often experience bleeding gums or subcutaneous bleeding, eating tomatoes helps improve symptoms.
4. Preventing the occurrence of blood clots
Patients with coronary heart disease and stroke who drink an appropriate amount of tomato juice every day benefit in their recovery.
5. Strengthening the stomach and aiding digestion
It helps digestion and moistens the intestines to relieve constipation, and can prevent and treat constipation.
The calories in cherry tomatoes
For people who are losing weight, they are very strict about every food they put in their mouth, and they have to ask how many calories the food contains, then judge whether they should eat it. We all know that tomatoes are relatively low in calories and can be eaten during weight loss, so what about the tomato's cousin —— the cherry tomato, how many calories does it have, and can it be eaten while losing weight? In fact, cherry tomatoes are very low in calories, and we can consume them with confidence while losing weight.
The calories in cherry tomatoes (calculated per 100 grams of edible portion) are 22 kcal (92 kJ). Cherry tomatoes are rich in nutrients and low in calories, and many models rely on eating cherry tomatoes to maintain their figures. Their rich acidic juice can help balance your skin's pH. For people with dark and rough skin, cherry tomato powder mixed with egg white can be applied to the face, left for about 15 minutes, and then rinsed off with clean water, which is very helpful for removing dead skin from the face. Cherry tomatoes are also a vegetable rich in vitamin C. Mixing a little honey into cherry tomato powder and applying it to the face, then washing it clean after more than ten minutes and persisting every day can remove spots and whiten the skin.
The cherry tomato is the most primitive tomato variety
The character “egg” in the name tomato is indeed apt; it belongs to the same family as the eggplant, both being nightshade plants, with their homeland far away in the Andes Mountains of South America. Around 500 BC, wild cherry tomatoes were taken into the Aztecs' own gardens. As the name suggests, these tomatoes had a slender stature comparable to cherries.
It was not until later, when Italians began using tomatoes in dishes such as pizza, that tomatoes were truly promoted and cultivated as a vegetable. Note that until then, tomatoes were still miniature in size. After that, pursuing larger and more numerous tomato fruits became the main breeding goal. Subsequently, continuous crossbreeding and selection indeed made tomatoes larger and larger. It was just that these large tomatoes were neither fragrant nor sweet, and even their sourness was omitted.
Cultivation techniques
Variety selection
Choose a mid-to-late maturing variety among the indeterminate growth types, and plant Taiwan Ruby (that is, New Cherry Tomato); this variety has a long production period, high yield, and strong tolerance to heat and moisture.
Plot selection
Cherry tomatoes have strong adaptability to soil, but loam or sandy loam that drains and irrigates easily and has loose, fertile soil is best.
Sowing at the right time
(1) Seedbed preparation. The seedbed should be sheltered from the wind, face the sun, and drain well. A 667 sq m field requires 6-7 sq m of seedling bed and 35-40 sq m of transplant bed. For the subsoil of the seedbed soil, apply 1500 kg of rotted human manure and urine per 667 sq m, and spread 8 cm of nutrient soil on top.
(2) Sowing period. Sow appropriately early to extend the harvest period as much as possible. Using a small arched shed for seedling raising can both allow earlier sowing and reduce the occurrence of seedling-stage diseases. Generally sow in late April.
(3) Seed soaking and sprouting. Use 20 g of seed per 667 sq m. Soak in 1000-fold potassium permanganate solution for 10 minutes, then rinse with clean water and soak in warm water for 6 hours. Wash the seeds, shake off the water, keep them moist with wet gauze, and sprout at about 25°C. Sow after the seeds show white.
(4) Sowing and post-sowing management. To ensure a relatively high plant survival rate, the seeds are required to be placed and sown individually, and covered with 0.5 cm of nutrient soil. Maintain a relatively high temperature before emergence. After emergence, to prevent excessive growth, attention should be paid to ventilation. At the two-leaf-one-heart stage of the seedlings, select strong, disease-free seedlings and carry out “three-carry” temporary planting on a clear evening, carrying fertilizer, carrying pesticide, and carrying soil. The temporary planting bed is the same as the seedling bed. After temporary planting, water to settle the roots.
(5) Prevent seedling-stage diseases and control excessive growth. There are many diseases in tomato cultivation areas. Copper ammonium complex or Lüheng No. 2 can be used to control damping-off and early blight. Spray once every 7-10 days, for 2-3 consecutive applications. After the seedlings survive temporary planting and before field planting, according to the growth of the seedlings, spray 1500x10-6 daminozide, or sprinkle 300x10-6 chlormequat, which can increase leaf color and inhibit excessive growth. If growth is too vigorous, spray or sprinkle once more after three weeks.
Protected cultivation
Small shed covering cultivation: In January, use a sun-facing bed or a large shed with ground heating wires plus small shed covering for seedling raising. Plant in early to mid-March; it is best to first cover with plastic film before planting, and immediately cover with a small shed after planting. Supply the market from May to July, about 1 month earlier than open-field cultivation.
2. Large shed cultivation: In early December, raise seedlings in a cold bed or with electric heating wires in the shed. Plant in late February, with a large shed over a small shed. Harvest from April to early August. Choose early-maturing, high-yielding, high-quality varieties.
3. Rain shelter cultivation: Similar to large shed cultivation, except that the shed canopy is not removed for the whole period, and only the side curtains are removed, so that the canopy plays a rainproof role during the plum rain season and summer. Covering the canopy with shade netting also has a cooling effect, which can extend the tomato supply period to August or even September.
4. Large shed delayed autumn cultivation: Sow from late June to early July, plant in late August, and market from September to December. In October, cover with large shed film for insulation. Multiple layers of covering can be used to extend the supply of fresh tomatoes to New Year's Day.
5. Solar greenhouse cultivation: In areas with sufficient winter sunlight, solar greenhouses can be used to cultivate spring tomatoes.
Seedling raising
Because the seeds are relatively small, even more attention should be paid to the sowing rate and the management of temperature and humidity. Germination occurs at an upper temperature of about 27°C. After germination, the soil temperature should be lowered to 20°C. Pay attention to ventilation. When the first true leaf grows but has not yet grown as large as the cotyledons, it should be moved to a seedling pot to promote flower bud differentiation.
Fertilization
To focus on the quality of cherry tomatoes, attention must be paid to the application of organic fertilizer and the control of nitrogen fertilizer amounts. Apply 2500 kg of rotted compost and barnyard manure per mu, or 2000 kg of human and livestock manure or 100 kg of rapeseed cake, 30 kg of compound fertilizer, and 50 kg of superphosphate as base fertilizer, and regulate growth through water management. When harvesting the first fruits, for every 2-3 clusters of fruit harvested, apply liquid fertilizer 2-3 times as a top dressing according to the strength of growth, but appropriately increase the application of potassium fertilizer.
Field planting
Choose soil with deep soil layers, convenient drainage, and fertile soil, and it is best to plant in a plot that has not grown previous crops of the same family. After preparing the land and applying fertilizer, make high beds 30 cm high, with two rows planted per bed and a plant spacing of 30-45 cm, which is conducive to pruning. To reduce pests and diseases, control weed growth, prevent fruit rot, keep the fruit clean, and improve commercial value, when planting, it is generally standard to plant seedlings with buds on the first inflorescence .
Pruning
For determinate varieties, promote their growth as much as possible, always keeping 2 strong side branches on the upper part to grow upward, and pay attention to the balance between leaf number and fruit number. If growth is too weak, some flower buds can be removed. For indeterminate types, where early maturity is not the goal, double-stem pruning can be used because seeds are relatively expensive. But in production, single-stem pruning is mostly used.
Leaf removal
To improve quality, enhance light, promote ventilation, and prevent disease, the old leaves below the fruit clusters that have already been harvested can be removed.
Promoting fruit set
Use an electric vibrator for pollination. For some varieties cultivated in seasons with poor pollination, where the vibrator effect is poor, use foliar sprays of 4-CPA to prevent flower and fruit drop.
Temperature control
In protected cultivation, the night temperature should be higher than that for ordinary tomatoes to improve quality, with the management target being no lower than 9-10°C. If the temperature is too low, both fruit color and flesh quality deteriorate. At a room temperature of 25°C, ventilation should begin during the day, with not exceeding 35°C being the most ideal. When the afternoon temperature drops below 20°C, close the windows.