Grape tomato
Encyclopedia
A grape tomato is a class of tomatoes believed to be of southeast Asian origin, shaped similarly to the oval plum tomato
es but having the small size and sweetness of cherry tomato
es. Grape tomatoes produce small and typically oblong fruits. Introduced to the worldwide market in the 1990s, they have gained substantial popularity, due at least in part to their higher sugar content compared to regular tomatoes, and due to their smaller, bite-sized shape. (See the Washington Post article.)
A commercially significant variety, the "Santa F1", was introduced into the United States market in 1997 by grower Andrew Chu, who obtained the seeds from Taiwan
's Known-You Seed Company. Procacci Brothers Sales Corporation (PBSC) in Philadelphia acquired global exclusivity of this fruit and has aggressively marketed it under its subsidiary Santa Sweets, Inc.
The Santa F1 variety is rare in seed form, being offered only by a few seed houses around the world (the United Kingdom's Thompson and Morgan
has sporadically featured the variety in its catalog from time to time (see below)); some gardeners report the seed can breed true out to six or more generations, an assertion that has received little notice from most gardening authorities. Other grape tomato cultivars, most notably Juliet, are more widely available to home gardeners.
Plum tomato
A plum tomato, also known as a processing tomato or paste tomato, is a type of tomato bred for sauce and packing purposes. They are generally oval or cylindrical in shape, with significantly fewer seed compartments than standard round tomatoes and a generally higher solid content, making them more...
es but having the small size and sweetness of cherry tomato
Cherry tomato
A cherry tomato is a small variety of tomato that has been cultivated since at least the early 1800s and thought to have originated in Peru and Northern Chile. Cherry tomatoes range in size from a thumbtip up to the size of a golf ball, and can range from being spherical to slightly oblong in shape...
es. Grape tomatoes produce small and typically oblong fruits. Introduced to the worldwide market in the 1990s, they have gained substantial popularity, due at least in part to their higher sugar content compared to regular tomatoes, and due to their smaller, bite-sized shape. (See the Washington Post article.)
A commercially significant variety, the "Santa F1", was introduced into the United States market in 1997 by grower Andrew Chu, who obtained the seeds from Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
's Known-You Seed Company. Procacci Brothers Sales Corporation (PBSC) in Philadelphia acquired global exclusivity of this fruit and has aggressively marketed it under its subsidiary Santa Sweets, Inc.
The Santa F1 variety is rare in seed form, being offered only by a few seed houses around the world (the United Kingdom's Thompson and Morgan
Thompson and Morgan
- Introduction :Thompson & Morgan is an independently owned company based in Ipswich, Suffolk. Founded in 1855, Thompson and Morgan offer English plants, seeds and sundries worldwide through their websites. The U.S...
has sporadically featured the variety in its catalog from time to time (see below)); some gardeners report the seed can breed true out to six or more generations, an assertion that has received little notice from most gardening authorities. Other grape tomato cultivars, most notably Juliet, are more widely available to home gardeners.
External links
- Article from the Brooklyn Botanic Garden website
- Attack of the Grape Tomatoes Article from the Washington Post
- Catalog listing for Santa F1 seeds from Thompson & Morgan does not seem to be a live page as of May 2007, but still accessible from Google