Salad tomato

Tomatoes are a fruit that belongs to the Solanaceae family, which has around 75 genus and 2,300 species.

The tomato is the fruit from the tomato plant, a plant of American origin. It is thought to come from Ecuador, Peru and northern Chile. It was introduced to Europe through Mexico. It was not until the XXth century when it started growing all over the world.

Nowadays tomatoes are one of the most popular foods in Europe, thanks in part to their versatility and ease to combine with a great variety of other foods and herbs.

There are almost a hundred varieties of tomato that are classified depending on its use, shape and size, divided in cooking tomatoes and salad tomatoes.

If ripe fruits are preferred, those with bright red colour, smooth skin and soft to the touch must be chosen. The most firm ones with a pink colour are ideal if a less ripe tomato is preferred. They should be discarded when they are too soft, ripe or with bruises or sun marks with green or yellow areas near the stalk. The tomato quality depends on the uniformity of each piece and the absence of growth and handling defects.