o How long does it take to manufacture and where is it done?

o How long does it take to manufacture and where is it done?

In 1519, Cortez discovered tomatoes growing in Montezuma's gardens and brought seeds back to Europe where they were planted as ornamental curiosities, but not eaten.

Most likely the first variety to reach Europe was yellow in color, since in Spain and Italy they were known as pomi d'oro, meaning yellow apples. Italy was the first to embrace and cultivate the tomato outside South America.

The French referred to the tomato as pommes d'amour, or love apples, as they thought them to have stimulating aphrodisiacal properties.

They were brought back from Central America by the Spanish Conquistadors, while another legend suggests that two Jesuit priests brought them to Italy from MexicoàTomatoes are sub-tropical plants and therefore require a full sun position

Approximately 130 million tons of tomatoes are produced in the world today with China being the largest producer, followed by the United States and Turkey

Tomato plants are also one of the most common home garden plants found in the U.S. There are many different varieties of tomato plants and most produce red fruit, but there are also tomato plants that produce yellow, orange, pink, purple, green and white fruit.

Heirloom tomatoes are also becoming increasingly popular among home gardeners and organic producers.

Heirloom tomatoes tend to be more disease resistant and produce very tasty, interesting fruits.

Tomatoes are the state vegetable of New Jersey, and in Arkansas, it is both the state fruit and state vegetable. In the state of Ohio, tomato juice has been the official beverage since 1965.

Tomatoes can be easily grown from seeds, but to save time and energy, most home gardeners buy tomato plants or seedlings from nurseries and garden centers

Tomato seeds can be found in garden catalogs and can also be purchased online.

Growing tomatoes is enjoyable and rewarding and doesn’t take a lot of space - they can even be grown in containers on patios or balconies.

The main thing to remember about growing tomatoes is they need a lot of sunshine and a lot of water with good drainage.

The tomato has a multitude of culinary uses and its’ high acidic content makes it very popular for canning. Joseph Campbell mass produced the first tomato soup in 1897, although the first recipe is credited to Maria Parloa for her tomato chowder in the 1872 book, The Appledore Cook Book. Today, tomato recipes number in the hundreds

Tomato sauces are used in many products including frozen foods, pasta sauces and pizza

toppings etc. A typical tomato sauce would be based on sieved or whole tomatoes,

and/or tomato paste. It would also contain water, sugar, vinegar, salt and seasoning. The

desired product viscosity would normally be achieved using a starch based thickener.

Tomato ketchup is a condiment manufactured from similar ingredients, although paste is

used rather than whole tomatoes. Premium quality ketchups with a high solids content

derive their viscosity from a combination of water retention of the fibrous strands in

the paste and the gelling effect of pectin found naturally in tomatoes

The recipe, viscosity and solids content of sauces and ketchups vary widely. Typical

process requirements are as follows:

• Mixing apparatus must be capable of dispersing powdered ingredients into water to

form an agglomerate-free product.

• If the product is made from whole peeled tomatoes, these require chopping and

pulping before addition to the mix.

• Insoluble particles in the tomatoes need to be fully dispersed and “milled” to obtain a

smooth texture and even dispersion of the pigment (carotin) to give depth of color.

• Fibrous strands in the tomatoes must be fibrillated (frayed) to raise capacity for water

retention, which increases viscosity.

• Once mixed, the product may be passed through a high pressure homogenizer or

colloid mill to obtain the required consistency.

How to Grow Tomatoes - Soil Preparation

Two or three weeks before planting, dig the soil over and incorporate as much organic matter as possible. Spread a handful or two of fish blood and bone meal over each square metre / yard as you are digging the area over. This will provide a base; long-lasting feed containing many trace elements which tomato plants require for good growth.

How to Grow Tomatoes - When to Sow Seed

Tomatoes are unable to tolerate any degree of frost, the timing for planting/sowing outside is therefore key to successfully growing tomatoes.--> Soil temperature above 10ºC. Tomato plants take roughly 7 weeks from sowing to reach the transplanting stage. They should transplanted outside one or two weeks after your last frost date, which is early, May in your area.  Hydroponic Tomatoes

Hydroponic tomatoes may look beautiful and perfect to the eye, but they are sadly lacking in flavor and contain less vitamin C. Hydroponic tomatoes are grown in greenhouses and do not get the full benefit of the sun, nor do they pull flavor from natural soil. When buying greenhouse tomatoes, take note of the attached stems and leaves for freshness. Wilted leaves and brittle stems are a dead giveaway of storage age.

No other vegetable or fruit is more widely used nor consumed than the tomato. From pizza to ketchup to sun-dried tomatoes and all in between, the tomato has an infinite number of applications on the dinner table. They can even be candied and used in cakes. Fried green tomatoes are a popular Southern dish.