Member discussion regarding the methods, varieties and merits of growing tomatoes.
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January 3, 2017 | #1 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Dec 2016
Location: New England
Posts: 661
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Green Shoulders
Being the product of the modern grocery, green shoulders have a stigma that I want to erase.....that is if warrented.
To me the green is un sightly and being a relative to the potato, is it ok to eat? Small amounts of green potato peels cause GI upset. But also tomatos?? Reading the varieties at Tatiana's site gives me hope that the green is fine to eat. Why do some varieties have the green and others dont.... beyond selection. Thank you in advance. |
January 3, 2017 | #2 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: Finland, EU
Posts: 2,550
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Different genes cause different colors.
Yes, green shoulders are safe to eat - and often even delicious. Your namesake Black Krim often has green shoulders at its mature stage. |
January 3, 2017 | #3 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Illinois, zone 6
Posts: 8,407
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Uniform ripening was bred into commercial varieties for the sake of making them easy to pick for field workers. I believe later research also tied that breeding to a lower sugar content, and may very well have been where it all went wrong in regard to the flavor of grocery store tomatoes.
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January 3, 2017 | #4 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Vancouver Island
Posts: 5,931
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Yes, green shoulders are common in some OP tomatoes, especially the blacks. Edible of course. Some tomatoes, the green when ripe varieties, are entirely green and delicious fully ripe.
These tomatoes retain chlorophyl when ripe, it is genetic and normal for those varieties. KarenO |
January 3, 2017 | #5 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: Southeastern PA
Posts: 1,420
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Green tomatoes contain tomatine which is not toxic. Potato parts that are green contain solanine which can make you sick or even be toxic in large quantities.
We eat fried green tomatoes all summer with no problems. |
January 3, 2017 | #6 | |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Dec 2016
Location: New England
Posts: 661
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Quote:
Yes, the BK has big green shoulders. I hated cutting off the green shoulders, better safe than sorry, and left me about two bites of very tastey tomato. So.. BK green shoulders are tastey you say, how will I know about others?? Or is the "tastey" limited to the black varieties? |
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January 3, 2017 | #7 | |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Dec 2016
Location: New England
Posts: 661
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Quote:
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January 3, 2017 | #8 | |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Dec 2016
Location: New England
Posts: 661
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Quote:
I did try a couple green tomatos last summer. Kept waiting for one plant to ripen!!! Never ripened. Well I suddenly, eureka!, bet this one is a green cherry. It was good!!! Not like a red tomato --very different. Funny how I never did think of a "green" tomato as poisonous!! Just if the shoulders were green!! |
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January 3, 2017 | #9 | |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Dec 2016
Location: New England
Posts: 661
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Quote:
THAT explains it.. a different chemical!!! (two university teachers ate green potato peels to have a better understanding of just how poisonous ....hence the GI upset.) Adventurous ! |
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January 3, 2017 | #10 | |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: Southeastern Pennsylvania
Posts: 1,069
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In many European countries, people see green-shouldered tomatoes as especially desirable and think they are more delicious than even ripening kinds. This belief has a basis in reality:
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January 3, 2017 | #11 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Sunol, CA
Posts: 2,723
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Actually, green shoulders are correlated with flavor, and removing them (according to recent academic work) seems to be correlated with flavor degradation.
I see Gorbelly's post of 1 hour ago makes mine redundant. |
January 4, 2017 | #12 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Dec 2016
Location: New England
Posts: 661
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Fred, your opinion is welcome too.
Gorbelly, thanks for the details. Need to revamp my seed wish list. |
January 4, 2017 | #13 | |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Sep 2015
Location: Central VA
Posts: 32
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Quote:
If I remember correctly, the green on potatoes is actually caused by exposure to sun, so it has more to do with conditions creating the toxicity. Interesting discussion, though- I never thought about why some tomatoes have green and others don't. Just seemed more "natural" than potatoes, I guess. |
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January 4, 2017 | #14 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: Southeastern PA
Posts: 1,420
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When potatoes are exposed to sunlight they produce chlorophyll in that area but they also produce more solanine in that area as a natural defense against being eaten.
The chlorophyll itself is not toxic but it indicates the presence of increased concentrations of solanine in that area of the tuber. |
January 4, 2017 | #15 | |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: Southeastern Pennsylvania
Posts: 1,069
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The green on both tomatoes and green potatoes is from chlorophyll. It's just that, in the potato, it indicates that there are likely high amounts of solanine. A potato plant has the highest concentration of solanine in new shoots. A green potato is one that is exposed to sun and is therefore in conditions conducive to sprouting, i.e., forming new shoots. A potato that isn't green but is starting to sprout should also be discarded, as it's also going to have high concentrations of solanine. In tomatoes, on the other hand, the chlorophyll doesn't indicate the presence of anything toxic.
Tomatine in tomatoes may or may not have a point at which it becomes toxic, but there's only one recorded case of poisoning blamed on tomatine (supposedly from a tea made from the leaves), and it's not a very well documented one. By contrast, although most of us wouldn't eat enough green potatoes in one sitting to cause problems, there are actually documented cases of solanine poisoning in the medical literature. Tomatine may actually have significant health benefits: Quote:
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