We will do serious facts about tomatoes later. We decided to start with a series of Tomato fun facts that you will enjoy. Trust us, when we say fun facts about tomatoes, we really mean that. Yes, these are some funny facts and of course surprising. So, let’s get started…
Tomato Fun Facts: 1-5
1. They are fruits! Yes, tomatoes are fruits if we speak botanically. They are not vegetables.
2. They are world’s most popular fruit. With annual production of 60 million tons, they remain the world’s most demanded and most popular fruit. Second spot goes to bananas and third to apples, followed by oranges and watermelons respectively in 4th and 5th spot.
3. There is no point thinking that ripe tomatoes will be red. There are white, black, purple, pink and yellow ripe tomatoes.
4. How big can a tomato plant can grow? The world record of being the largest tomato plant goes to a single plant spread over an area of 56.73 square meters. That’s bigger that the swimming pool used in Olympic game. The plant was found in Walt Disney World Resort located in USA’s Florida.
5. There is a very messy annual festival in Spain. It goes by the name La Tomatina. Of course it involves tomatoes but what people do is, they don’t eat tomatoes. They throw tomatoes at each other. Some 150,000 tomatoes are used.
Tomato Fun Facts: 6-10
6. The weight of the largest tomato to be ever picked was 3.5 kilos. Yes, that was the weight of the largest tomato. It was grown in Oklahoma, USA in year 1986. Did you know that the average weight of a newborn baby in UK is less than that?
7. Can you guess how many tomato varieties are there in this world? There are 10,000+ varieties!
8. The state of Ohio has taken the love for tomatoes to a whole new level. They have labeled tomato juice as their ‘State Drink’.
9. Remember that massive tomato plant from Florida? The plant gave 32,194 tomatoes between the period May 2005 and April 2006.
10. Apart from making Tomato Juice as the State Drink, Ohio has also declared Tomato as the State Fruit. At least they know that tomato is a fruit.
Tomato Fun Facts: 11-15
11. Many people consider tomato as a vegetable. The state of New Jersey in USA has actually made tomato as its ‘State Vegetable’.
12. Tomatoes had always been considered as fruit, but the confusion came when the Supreme Court of USA declared that tomatoes were vegetables. This happened in 1890s and the purpose of declaring tomatoes as vegetable was nothing other than taxation.
13. NASA left 12.5 million tomato seeds in space and they recollected them after 6 years. The seeds were given to school children for growing. The space-exposed seeds grew just as good as the earth-bound counterparts.
14. 94.5% of the weight of a typical tomato is nothing, but water!
15. Wolf Peach is the literal translation of the scientific name of tomatoes – Lycopersicon lycopersicum.
Tomato Fun Facts: 16-20
16. Shakespeare, in none of his works, had ever mentioned tomatoes.
17. Guess what? Even Bible doesn’t have any mention of tomatoes!
18. Even after tomatoes have been harvested, they will keep on gaining weight as they keep on ripening.
19. There is one state in USA which considers tomato as both its State Fruit and State Vegetable. Can you guess the name? It is Arkansas.
20. Nutriculture Ltd, Mawdesley in UK’s Lancashire grew world’s tallest tomato plant. On May 11, 2000, the plant grew 65 feet tall (that is 19.8 meters).
Tomato FAQ
Is tomato a vegetable of fruit?
What is the benefit of eating tomato?
What is bad about tomatoes?
Is it good to eat tomatoes everyday?
Is it OK to eat raw tomatoes?
Is tomato good for kidneys?
That completes our list of tomato fun facts. If you want us to add more to this, feel free to drop a comment.