Centuries before it became a key ingredient  in salads and sauces, the humble and versatile tomato was believed to be deadly. 

For about 200 years through the end of the  19th century, most Europeans avoided consuming tomatoes, which were nicknamed  ‘poison apples’ and were believed to cause sickness and death, especially among  members of the upper social classes.

As it turns out, tomatoes fell victim to a  simple misunderstanding: wealthy Europeans used pewter plates to serve food,  which contained high lead content.

Beware of tomato: For about 200 years through the end of  the 19th century, most Europeans avoided consuming tomatoes, which were  nicknamed ‘poison apples’

Big misunderstanding: Wealthy Europeans used pewter  plates to serve food, which had high lead content. Combined with tomatoes’  acidity, the tableware would leach lead, often resulting in the diner’s death

Because tomatoes are naturally very acidic,  when placed on pewter platters, the fruit would leach lead, which often resulted  in terminal lead poisoning, Smithsonian  Magazine reported.

For the much vilified tomato, the turning  point came in 1880 with the invention of the pizza in Naples, which has made the  red, juicy fruit enormously popular in Europe and North America.

Nowadays, the tomato is present in nearly  every cuisine. It is hard to imagine a lasagne without a hearty red sauce, or a  sandwich without thick tomato slices.

But the tomato’s journey from a list of  poisonous substances to cookbooks was not an easy one. According to the U.S.  Department of Agriculture, the wild tomato species are native to western South  America from Ecuador south to northern Chile and the Galapagos Islands. 

One of the earliest references to tomatoes in  Europe was made by the Italian herbalist Pietro Andrea Matthioli, who considered  the toxic ‘golden apple’ to be a nightshade and a mandrake – a class of foods  known as aphrodisiacs.

All in the family: Tomatoes were classified as a deadly  nightshade – a poisonous family of that also includes the eggplant Solanaceae  plants

Like similar fruits and vegetables in the  Solanaceae family, which also includes the eggplant, the tomato garnered a  reputation for being not only poisonous, but also seductive.

According to a new book by Andrew F. Smith  titled the The Tomato in  America: Early History, Culture and Cookery,  the public’s mistrust of the already maligned fruit took a turn for the worse  following the 1597 publication of John Gerard’s poorly researched work on  agriculture called Herball.

Setting things straight: Andrew F. Smith wrote a book  about the much maligned fruit called the Tomato in America: Early History,  Culture and Cookery

In the book, much of it plagiarized from an  earlier manuscript on the subject, Gerard – a barber-surgeon by trade – asserted  that the entire tomato plant was ‘of ranke and stinking savour,’ and described  the fruit as corrupt, with toxic leaves and stalk.

The barber’s warped view of the tomato came  to define Europe’s attitude toward the foreign fruit for the next two centuries. 

The tomato was eaten by Aztecs in Mesoamerica  as early as 700AD and called the ‘tomatl.’Legend has that that Spanish  conquistador Hernan Cortez was the one who introduced the seeds of the fruit to  southern Europe upon his return from an expedition to the New World in  1519.

Up until the late 1800s, tomatoes were grown  in European countries almost exclusively for decorative purposes. 

Smith wrote in his book that John Parkinson,  the apothecary to King James I and botanist for King Charles I, ‘proclaimed that  while love apples were eaten by the people in the hot countries to ‘coole and  quench the heate and thirst of the hot stomaches,’ British gardeners grew them  only for curiosity and for the beauty of the fruit.;

The first known reference to tomatoes in the  British American Colonies was made in the 1710 book titled Botanologia by  herbalist William Salmon.

Slice of history: The turning point for the tomato came  in 1880 with the invention of the pizza in Naples, which has made the red, juicy  fruit enormously popular in Europe and North America

But it took another 100 years for the shady  fruit to make its way to the American table. By 1822, hundreds of tomato recipes  appeared in local periodicals and newspapers.

Even in the New World, the tomato had a hard  time shaking its questionable reputation. 

For decades, many tomato growers were  concerned about the green tomato worm feastin on tomato leaves, which was  regarded by some to be ‘as poisonous as a rattlesnake.’

Ubiquitous: The U.S. alone produced 3.32billion pounds  of fresh-market tomatoes in 2009

It was later established the horned,  unpleasant-looking critter with a taste for tomatoes was harmless.  

Today, tomatoes are consumed around the world  in countless varieties. More than one and a half billion tons of tomatoes are  produced commercially every year. In 2009, the U.S. alone produced 3.32billion  pounds of fresh-market tomatoes.

Source: dailymail.co.uk