Name: Cherry tomato (Solanum lycopersicum var. cerasiforme) — a small, round, bite-sized tomato, often red, but also yellow, orange, purple and striped, with a sweet, juicy flavour. Grape tomatoes are a similar, oval type.
Description
Cherry tomatoes are closer to the wild ancestors of the tomato than large modern types, since the wild tomato of South America had small fruits. They were developed into modern cultivars, such as ‘Sweet 100’, and are especially popular in salads, snacks and garden growing, since they ripen reliably and bear heavily.
Because they have more skin and seeds relative to flesh, and are picked ripe, cherry tomatoes are often sweeter and more flavourful than out-of-season large tomatoes. They contain more sugar and acid than big tomatoes, which gives them a strong tomato flavour.
Main nutrition value
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Cherry tomatoes provide vitamin C, vitamin K, potassium and folate, with lycopene and other carotenoids, and are among the best tomato choices for flavour.
How best to be consumed
Cherry tomatoes are eaten raw, roasted and cooked.
- Eat whole as a snack, or halve into salads, grain bowls and pasta.
- Roast with olive oil, garlic and herbs until they burst and caramelise.
- Blister in a hot pan with oil, then toss with pasta.
- Skewer for barbecues, or add to traybakes.
- Store at room temperature, away from direct sun, until ripe.
Overconsumption could cause…
Cherry tomatoes are safe and healthy in food amounts.
- Heartburn or reflux from the acidity, particularly in sensitive people.
- Reactions in a small number of people sensitive to nightshade plants, such as joint or digestive complaints, though evidence is limited.
- A choking risk for very young children, for whom whole cherry tomatoes should be cut up.
- Stomach irritation from large amounts, and extra salt and oil in cooked dishes.
Wikipedia — Cherry tomato, used for origin, naming and history: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherry_tomato
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