Tomato seed sprouts?

[Rob]

Just sliced up a grocery store tom that has been in the kitchen for a week. Of course the taste was *BLEH, petooey, spits on ground*...
But I noticed that the seeds inside were beginning to sprout.
The tomato looked really pretty and perfect on the outside.
But inside, it was like a sprout hatching nursery.

The final taste was a bland tomato with decent tasting sprouts added in.

Just an interesting note. Didn't stop me from slicin' and eatin'.

So... anybody ever just try to sprout out extra tomato seeds and go from there: added to salads, etc?

[Rob]

Interesting link...

http://backtocountrylife.com/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=352

[milifestyle]

I'm pretty sure Tomato leaves are poisonous (They are from the Solanaceae family). Tomatoes used to be commonly known as Genus "Solanum" though this changed to Lycopersicon in most gardening circles i think.

The solanaceae family is also known as the Nightshade family which includes Deadly Nightshade, Potatoes and Tobacco.

I've heard some of the gasses and hormones used to induce ripening of store bought tomatoes can cause seeds to prematurely sprout... not sure on the validity of that research but it sounds logical to me.

[TZ -OH6]

Its not uncommon for tomato nuts traveling abroad to save seeds out of tomatoes they get with meals.

Toxins are present in leaves and immature fruit, but eating the sprouts is not a problem. You might get sick if you munched down a full sized leaf, but I suspect the taste would make doing that difficult.

Tomatoes were placed into theri own genus, Lycopersicon, for a most of their history, but recent DNA testing puts them back into the Genus Solanum with Potatoes. Because of naming rules having to do with priority of names that changes them from Lycopersicon esculentum (older name in most gardening books) to Solanum lycopersicum, which was probably their original name.

[milifestyle]

Thanks for the update

[operationgreenthumb64]

can tomato seeds grow from the whole tomatoes in a can?

[milifestyle]

Tomatoes wouldn't grow from within the can, however i don't think it would be impossible for seeds in the can to grow. It would depend on what process was used to can them and what temperatures were used.

Some hard seeded plants require a fire or extreme heat source to crack the pods open. Other seeds need to pass through an animal to soften the outer shell of the seed to allow germination.

It would be an interesting experiment... let me know the results if you try it out

[The Helpful Gardener]

Store bought tomatoes are often raised from varieties bred more for agricultural and retail sturdiness and not for flavor (half the ptooey response right there; I hardly eat tomatoes out of season for just that reason...). Varieties like 'Jet Star' were bred for shipping; they are even trying to grow square tomatoes to make packaging more efficient...

Homegrowns just need to make it to the plate from the backyard, so while 'Brandywine' has been shunned by the trade as a thin skinned mess of juice, these same traits make it the darling of backyard growers; still the number one heirloom after over a century...

So why grow the factory varieties when you can have the good stuff? Unless you are shipping by plane or need them to fit twelve to a box, or to be the prettiest tomato in the display case, who cares? I say grow the good stuff and be happier yet with your crop...

HG

[milifestyle]

Store bought tomatoes are often raised from varieties bred more for agricultural and retail sturdiness and not for flavor (half the ptooey response right there; I hardly eat tomatoes out of season for just that reason...). Varieties like 'Jet Star' were bred for shipping; they are even trying to grow square tomatoes to make packaging more efficient...

Homegrowns just need to make it to the plate from the backyard, so while 'Brandywine' has been shunned by the trade as a thin skinned mess of juice, these same traits make it the darling of backyard growers; still the number one heirloom after over a century...

So why grow the factory varieties when you can have the good stuff? Unless you are shipping by plane or need them to fit twelve to a box, or to be the prettiest tomato in the display case, who cares? I say grow the good stuff and be happier yet with your crop...

HG

Absolutely...

... it would still be an interesting experiment though i reckon

[The Helpful Gardener]

A scientific how-to? I'd be interested to hear results, but wouldn't give up sq. footage in my garden for it... Italian pastes use Roma and San Marzano alot, so those I might grow...

HG

[milifestyle]

A scientific how-to? I'd be interested to hear results, but wouldn't give up sq. footage in my garden for it... Italian pastes use Roma and San Marzano alot, so those I might grow...

HG

Same reason I'm waiting to hear the result...