More genomes in tomatoes than humans

Tomatoes are most used fruits in the world and the most famous fruit for various reasons.

• Do you know? Tomato has more genomes than humans – 31760 genes! Scientists made this discovery when they sequenced tomato genomes with a variety Heinz 1706 from Peru.
• Peru is the place where tomato’s ancestors are originated.
• Tomato is a fruit as per botanists. However, it was declared as a vegetable as its uses are more like vegetables. Unites Supreme Court decreed this many years back. Potato and tomato both belong to same family and the joke is “potato is happy because tomato is also a vegetable” Moreover both plants have 92% of common DNA.
• China is the largest producer of tomatoes followed by USA and India. More than 7500 varieties of tomatoes available in the world
• We have seen mostly red color tomatoes. Tomatoes are available in green, yellow, orange, pink, black, brown, white, and purple
• Tomatoes contain lycopene, an antioxidant that is good for health. Compared to raw cooked tomatoes are better. They also contain vitamins A and C, calcium, potassium.
• Tomato skin is not good for everyone. People who suffer from diverticulitis should avoid tomato skin. People who suffer from gastritis should also avoid consumption of tomato.

Image credit: Image by LoggaWiggler from Pixabay (Free for commercial use)