"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 "little golden fruit" and "the fruit of love". It is not only brightly colored and beautifully shaped, 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 tall 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 and building blood, and improving appetite. It is not only brightly colored and beautifully shaped, but also pleasant in taste and rich in nutrients. In addition to containing all the nutrients of ordinary tomatoes, its vitamin content is higher than that of ordinary tomatoes. It is listed by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization as one of the “four major fruits” to be prioritized for promotion.
Is the cherry tomato genetically modified?
Genetically modified food is made by artificially transferring genes from other organisms into crops. For example, transferring a flower's genes or a tree's genes into a person, that is genetic modification. The cherry tomato is an “original tomato” variety. By recombining the excellent traits of small cherry tomatoes with excellent taste and flavor through conventional hybridization, the cherry tomato is obtained, so they are not genetically modified products.
The benefits of cherry tomatoes
1. Slowing down age spots 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 the deposition of age spots. Therefore, the tomato has the reputation of being the “longevity fruit”.
2. Anti-cancer
Research shows 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 blood lipids and blood pressure
For patients with low blood pressure who often experience bleeding gums or subcutaneous bleeding, eating tomatoes helps improve symptoms.
4. Preventing the occurrence of blood clots
For patients with coronary heart disease and stroke, drinking an appropriate amount of tomato juice every day is beneficial for recovery from the illness.
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 of cherry tomatoes
For people who are losing weight, they are so strict about every food they put in their mouths, and they all have to ask how many calories the food has, and then judge whether they should eat these foods. We all know that the calories of tomatoes are relatively low, and they can be eaten during weight loss. So what about the tomato's cousin——the cherry tomato, how many calories does it have, and can cherry tomatoes be eaten while losing weight. In fact, cherry tomatoes are very low in calories, and we can eat them with peace of mind while losing weight.
The calories of cherry tomatoes (calculated per 100 grams of edible portion) are 22 kcal (92 kJ). Cherry tomatoes are rich in nutrients and low in calories. Many models rely on eating cherry tomatoes to maintain their figures. Its rich acidic juice can help you balance your skin's pH. For people with dark and rough skin, you can mix cherry tomato powder with egg white and apply it to the face, leave it for about 15 minutes, then wash it off with clean water, which is greatly helpful for removing dead skin on the face. Cherry tomatoes are also a vegetable rich in vitamin C. Mix a little honey into cherry tomato powder and apply it to the face, then wash it clean after more than ten minutes. Persisting every day can remove spots and whiten the skin.
The cherry tomato is the most original tomato variety
The character “qie” in the name tomato is indeed apt; it is in the same family as the eggplant, both belonging to the nightshade family, and its hometown is far away in the Andes Mountains of South America. Around 500 BC, wild cherry tomatoes were collected by the Aztecs into their own vegetable gardens. As the name suggests, these tomatoes had slender figures comparable to cherries.
It was not until later, when Italians began using tomatoes in dishes such as pizza, that tomatoes were truly promoted and planted as a vegetable. Note that until then, tomatoes were still miniature in type. After that, pursuing larger and more numerous tomato fruits became the main goal of breeding. Subsequently, continuous crossbreeding and selection indeed made tomatoes bigger and bigger. It is just that these large tomatoes are neither fragrant nor sweet, and even the sour taste has been omitted.
Cultivation techniques
Variety selection
Choose mid-to-late maturing varieties among the indeterminate growth type, and plant Taiwan Red Ruby (that is, New Cherry Tomato); this variety has a long production period, high yield, and strong heat and moisture tolerance.
Plot selection
Cherry tomatoes have strong adaptability to soil, but loam or sandy loam that is convenient for drainage and irrigation 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 have good drainage. 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 decomposed 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 grams of seed per 667 sq m. After soaking in 1000 times diluted potassium permanganate solution for 10 minutes, 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 them at about 25°C; sow after they turn 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-true-leaf-one-heart stage, select healthy 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, and after temporary planting, water to settle the roots.
(5) Preventing seedling-stage diseases and controlling excessive growth. There are many diseases in tomato cultivation areas. Cupric ammonium complex or Luheng No. 2 can be used to control damping-off and early blight. Spray once every 7-10 days, for 2-3 consecutive times. After the seedlings survive temporary planting and before field planting, according to the growth of the seedlings, spray 1500x10-6 daminozide, or pour 300x10-6 chlormequat, which can increase leaf color and inhibit excessive growth. If growth is too vigorous, spray or pour once more after three weeks.
Protected cultivation
Small shed cover cultivation: In January, use a sunny seedbed or ground heating wires in a large shed plus small shed cover for seedling raising; plant in early to mid-March, preferably after first covering with plastic film, then plant; after planting, immediately cover with a small shed; 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; large shed with small shed inside; harvest from April to early August; choose early-maturing, high-yield, high-quality varieties.
3. Rain shelter cultivation: Similar to large shed cultivation, except that the large shed canopy is not removed for the whole period, and only the skirt curtains are removed, so that the canopy plays a rainproof role in 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 autumn delayed cultivation: Sow from late June to early July, plant at the end of August, and market from September to December. In October, cover with large shed film for insulation, and multiple layers of covering can be used to extend the supply of fresh-eating tomatoes to New Year's Day.
5. Solar greenhouse cultivation: In areas with sufficient winter sunlight (sunshine), solar greenhouses can be used to cultivate spring tomatoes.
Seedling raising
Because the seeds are relatively small, more attention should be paid to the sowing rate and the management of temperature and humidity. They germinate at a soil temperature of about 27°C; after germination, the soil temperature should be lowered to 20°C, and attention should be paid to aeration. When the first true leaf grows but has not yet grown as large as the cotyledons, they should be moved to seedling pots 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 control of the amount of nitrogen fertilizer. Apply 2500 kg of decomposed compost and barn 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. Before harvesting the fruit, 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 plots that have not previously grown crops of the same family. After land preparation and fertilization, make high beds 30 cm high, plant two rows per bed, with a plant spacing of 30-45 cm, which is conducive to pruning. To reduce pests and diseases, control weed growth, prevent fruit rot, keep fruit clean, and improve commodity value, when planting, generally use seedlings with the first inflorescence bearing buds as the standard for planting .
Pruning
For varieties with determinate growth, promote their growth as much as possible, always keeping 2 strong side branches on the upper part to let them 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 the indeterminate growth type, do not aim for early maturity; double-stem pruning can be used because seeds are relatively expensive. But in production, single-stem pruning is mostly used.
Leaf removal
To achieve the goals of improving quality, enhancing light, promoting ventilation, and preventing disease, 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, when the vibrator's effect is poor, spray 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, the fruit color and flesh quality will both deteriorate. At a room temperature of 25°C, ventilation should begin during the day, with not exceeding 35°C being the most ideal; in the afternoon, when the temperature drops below 20°C, close the windows.