Many gardeners are aware that tomato plants are a part of the nightshade family. The mature fruit of tomato plants may be eaten without risk, but the leaves and stems are deadly. What about unripe fruit, though? Are green tomatoes a health risk?
The History of Tomatoes
One of the most common plants in backyard gardening is the tomato. This nightshade plant is indigenous to the Americas, and the Aztecs were already consuming its fruit by 700 AD. However, many Europeans were concerned that tomatoes were harmful when they were first brought to the ancient world.
Today, we know that tomatoes are healthy and safe to consume. Although most people associate tomatoes with the color red, this fruit may mature into a wide range of hues depending on the type. When completely ripe, several types, like Green Zebras & Green Moldavians, are still green.
Their color and hardness may distinguish these cultivars from unripe tomatoes in your garden. Green tomato cultivars often have deeper green vertical stripes or patterns when completely mature. Typically, unripe tomatoes have a light green color throughout. Any ripe color tomato will feel soft when squeezed. However, an unripe tomato will feel stiff.
Can You Eat Green Tomatoes?
Have you ever eaten Southern food with the same name after seeing the movie Fried Green Tomatoes or reading online assertions that unripe tomatoes are poisonous? Gardeners could assume that this meal is created using green tomato varietals. But tomatoes that are not ripe are used to make this meal and many others. Therefore, are unripe tomatoes harmful or okay to eat?
Quantity holds the key to the solution. Green tomatoes contain alkaloid substances such as solanine, atropine, and tomatine as a defensive mechanism. Green fruit contains more of these chemicals than mature fruit. This prevents the fruit from being ingested before the seeds are completely developed and viable, giving it a bitter flavor.
Green tomatoes are okay to consume in moderation. For these poisons to be deadly, adult humans would need to ingest 1.4 pounds (625 grams) of green tomatoes. Smaller doses, meanwhile, might irritate your stomach. Fried green tomatoes have a unique taste because of the unripe tomatoes’ bitterness. However, it is advisable to consume them in moderation.
What to do with Green Tomatoes
If you live in a region where fall frost often kills your tomato plants, you may be wondering what to do with all the green tomatoes left on the vine when it comes time to harvest the crop. When a tomato reaches the breaker or mature green stage, it may be harvested and used indoors to ripen.
Look for a white star-shaped region on the bottom of the fruit to identify green tomatoes that have begun the ripening process from those that have not. If kept at 55 degrees F, these unripe tomatoes will last longer in this state (13 C.). The fruit may be carried inside the kitchen to complete ripening once it reaches its full hue.
Here are some other applications for green tomatoes in addition to frying the unripe fruit:
Green tomato pickles
Green tomato salsa verde
Roasted green tomatoes
Green tomato chili
Green tomato chutney
Green tomato ketchup
Mock apple green tomato pie
Green tomato relish
Green tomato frittata
How Beneficial Are Green Tomatoes?
Tomatidine, an alkaloid molecule in the skin of green tomatoes, has been determined by a team of the University of Iowa researchers to potentially have pharmacological effects. This substance may be able to increase muscle mass and prevent muscular atrophy.
In addition to developing normally as individuals age, diseases, including cancer and heart failure, may also accompany muscle atrophy. There are currently no authorized drugs to stop muscular atrophy and repair muscles. Although this study seems promising, additional work is required to assess the toxicity of tomatidine and its impact on human muscles.
