Cherry tomatoes, raw (organic?)

Cherry tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum var. cerasiforme), are a small-fruited variety of tomato. Numerous dishes can be prepared with the sweet cherry tomatoes.

Culinary uses of cherry tomatoes

Cherry tomatoes are significantly smaller than "classic" tomatoes. Their size is similar to that of cherries - hence the alternative name cherry tomato. How much does a cherry tomato weigh? The weight of a cherry tomato can vary (around 10-30 g).¹⁰

They come in different varieties, colors (e.g., red, yellow, orange, green, black) and shapes (e.g., round, oval). Cherry tomatoes are very aromatic, fruity and in most cases sweeter than the larger varieties.

There are numerous uses for cherry tomatoes. You can prepare fine salads with raw cherry tomatoes, e.g., with basil and vegan mozzarella. An oil-free salad dressing with walnuts or an oil-free salad dressing with avocado and onion goes well with the tomato salad. You can also eat them raw as a snack - or combine them with a vegan dip for a picnic or aperitif. They are also particularly good for garnishing various dishes, including raw food creations.

When cooked, these small tomatoes serve as a side dish or are used in sauces or soups. Cherry tomatoes are also ideal for all kinds of vegetarian and vegan pasta dishes. You can mix them with spaghetti, add them to a one-pot pasta dish (e.g., with olives) or add them to a pasta salad (e.g., with cucumber). You can also use them to prepare tarts and galettes - preferably with herbs. Also recommended are cherry tomatoes stewed with garlic or baked in the oven and marinated in rosemary. Baked chicory or a wide variety of curries also taste great with cherry tomatoes.

Here are some recommended vegan recipes with cherry tomatoes:

Indian Tomato Soup with Cardamom, Cumin and Turmeric (in German)

Lukewarm Asparagus Salad with Cherry Tomatoes (in German)

Vegan Pho with Pak Choi, Edamame, Brown Rice Noodles and Cherry Tomatoes

Vegan recipe for Raw Cherry Tomato Apple Soup

Ingredients (for 4 people): 500 g raw cherry tomatoes (organic), 3 apples, 1 onion, 1 clove of garlic, 800 ml water, 50 g nut butter (preferably made from macadamia nuts or alternatively cashew butter), 50 ml soy sauce (or less), 2 tablespoons lemon juice (raw), a little salt, pepper and chopped chives.

Procedure: Wash and halve the raw cherry tomatoes. Wash and quarter the apples, remove the core and dice the flesh. Peel the onions and garlic cloves and cut into fine pieces. Place the cherry tomatoes, apples, onion and garlic with water in a blender jar and blend until smooth. Add nut butter, soy sauce and lemon juice and mix to a creamy soup. You may want to work with less soy sauce to reduce the salt content. Season with salt and pepper. Divide the vegan and raw cherry tomato and apple soup between four bowls and decorate with chives.

To find vegan recipes with cherry tomatoes follow the reference: "Recipes that have the most of this ingredient".

Purchasing - storage

Cherry tomatoes can be bought in most supermarket chains and in the local farmer’s markets when they are in season, such as Walmart, Costco, Whole Foods Markets, Kroger, Target, Albertsons and Safeway (United States); Asda, Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Morrisons, Aldi, Lidl, and Holland & Barret (Great Britain); Metro, Extra Foods, Real Canadian Superstore and Goodness Me (Canada); and Coles, Woolworths, and Harris Farm (Australia). Many organic supermarkets also sell organic cherry tomatoes. They may be available all year around. However, they are tastiest when they are in season in late summer. Some weekly farmers’ markets may have a wide range of unusual varieties.

It is easy to confuse cherry tomatoes and cocktail tomatoes (see below section on “confusion”).

Storage tips

Tomatoes should not be kept in the fridge. There they not only lose their taste, but also their ingredients. You should keep them at room temperature so that they will ripen a bit. The shelf life is up to two weeks. Always store tomatoes separately from other vegetables and fruit, as they give off the ripening gas ethene (ethylene), which encourages neighbors to ripen faster and also spoil.

Ingredients - nutritional values - calories

How many calories does a cherry tomato have? The energy content of the cherry tomato (raw) is 18 kcal/100g. There contain 0.2 g/100g of fat.

Do cherry tomatoes contain carbohydrates? Carbohydrates (3.9 g/100g) and proteins (0.88 g/100g) are also part of the nutritional values, but only small amounts are present. The cherry tomato consists mainly of water (approx. 95%).²

Do cherry tomatoes contain vitamins? 14 mg of vitamin C are present in 100 g of raw cherry tomatoes (17% of the daily requirement). Radishes (15 mg/100g) and fennel (12 mg/100g) provide a similar amount. The yellow sweet pepper contains 184 mg/100g, more than 13 times the amount of vitamin C.²

100 g of raw cherry tomatoes also contains 237 mg of potassium (12% of the daily requirement). Similar levels are found in pomegranates (236 mg/100g) and lettuce (238 mg/100g). Dried herbs and spices contain many times more potassium; e.g., dried coriander leaves with 4,466 mg/100g (= 44.66 mg/1g).² However, it is important to note that minimal amounts of spices and dried herbs are used. With 459 mg/100g, courgettes have almost twice as much potassium as the cherry tomato.

The vitamin K content is 7.9 µg/100g (11% of the daily requirement). This level is similar to that found in green sweet peppers (7.4 µg/100g) and raspberries (7.8 µg/100g). At 830 µg/100g, Swiss chard is particularly rich in vitamin K.²

Nutrient tables

You can find the total ingredients of cherry tomato (raw), the coverage of the daily requirement and comparison values ​​with other ingredients in the nutrient tables below.

Health effects

Are cherry tomatoes healthy? Cherry tomatoes contain some nutrients and bioactive compounds that are beneficial for health.⁵ These have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anticancer effects, among other things.⁶ The phytochemicals that give tomatoes their red color (carotenoids, e.g., lycopene) are considered antioxidants and are free radical scavengers for reactive oxygen species. In this way, they prevent damage to the genetic material that is caused by free radicals. In addition to the protective effect against cancer (especially prostate cancer), the above-mentioned carotenoid is also said to support cardiovascular diseases and diabetes.^4,5 In the case of cardiovascular diseases, supplementing with lycopene (from tomatoes or as a supplement) affects blood lipids, blood pressure, inflammation and endothelial function positively.⁸

Recent research also shows a reduced risk of diseases such as obesity, hyperglycemia and hypercholesterolemia.⁷

Dangers - intolerances - side effects

Tomatoes (including cherry tomatoes) contain the toxic glycoalkaloid solanine. The literature uses solanine as a collective term for nightshade alkaloids, e.g. α-tomatone in tomatoes or other glycoalkaloids in nightshade plants such as sweet peppers or eggplants. Unripe, green tomatoes have high levels that can be above the toxic limit. In ripe tomatoes, however, the concentration is negligible and there is therefore no risk of poisoning.³ In the unripe state, the tomatin value is up to 500 mg/kg, significantly higher than in the ripe state (around 5 mg/kg).¹⁷

Some people with sensitive stomach find cooked tomatoes difficult to digest.⁴

Ecological footprint - animal welfare

The carbon footprint of cherry tomatoes depends heavily on the cultivation system and region of cultivation. Tomatoes often grow in greenhouses, especially when the regional climate is too cold or when no other cultivation is possible seasonally. The heating of the greenhouses allows year-round cultivation of the heat-loving plants. Alternatively, tomatoes are grown in plastic tunnels or outdoors, which drastically reduces the amount of energy required.¹³ Seasonal, regional vine tomatoes have an average CO₂ emission of 0.3 kg CO₂ eq/kg, regional tomatoes from the greenhouse (off-season) on the other hand, have an emission of 2.9 kg CO₂ eq/kg.¹⁵ It is therefore best to buy during the season and, if possible, make sure that the tomatoes are "outdoor tomatoes" from the region.

In general, small-fruited tomatoes (e.g., cocktail tomatoes or snack tomatoes - we did not find any details for cherry tomatoes in particular) have a lower yield per m² than vine tomatoes with the same cost of input: their CO₂ footprint is correspondingly larger. In addition, small tomatoes are usually sold in foil-wrapped cardboard or plastic trays. This type of packaging also has a negative impact on the ecological footprint. When shopping, preference should be given to loose, large tomatoes such as beefsteak tomatoes or plum tomatoes from an ecological point of view.¹³

The amount of water required to produce 1 kg of tomatoes also depends on various factors and varies greatly in the literature. The values ​​are between 214 and 1000 liters.^14,15 In contrast to the number of emissions, the amount of water required for 1 kg of tomatoes grown in the greenhouse is on average less than for 1 kg of tomatoes grown outdoors. This is a key factor, especially in arid regions. It is important to mention here that the tomatoes grow in glass or plastic greenhouses in soilless substrates with nutrient solutions. On the other hand, in the plastic tunnel or outdoors, the tomatoes grow in the ground and receive not only green manure but also organic-mineral fertilization.¹⁶

Worldwide occurrence - cultivation

The tomatoes originated in South America and came to Europe via Spain.⁹

According to several studies, cherry tomatoes are the result of crossing wild and cultivated tomatoes.¹⁰

Growing wild

There are wild tomatoes in the tropics and subtropics. These look very diverse - mostly they are small, green and partly hairy fruits.¹

Possibility of confusion

Cherry tomatoes are also incorrectly referred to as cocktail tomatoes, but the latter are often elongated and larger. Although both varieties are similar, cherry tomato usually has a slightly sweeter taste.¹¹

Cultivation - harvest

Cherry tomatoes are easy to cultivate in the garden or in pots on the balcony. The plant is easy to care for and usually does not need a stick for support.⁹ The harvest can take place earlier compared to larger fruits and is practical for home cultivation, as the fruits ripen quickly and you always have fresh tomatoes.

The seedlings are easy to plant yourself. This should happen between February and April in the Northern Hemisphere. The seeds will germinate in a sunny and warm place (such as a sun-drenched window sill) within five to ten days. As soon as the first leaves have formed, you should pick out the tomato seedlings and transplant them. To do this, transplant the individual young plants into their own pots or tubs and water them well.¹¹ The plants can be placed in their permanent place outdoors as soon as frost is no longer expected. Cherry tomatoes like it sunny and protected from the weather. They also prefer nutrient-rich, well-drained soil with good water storage capacity.¹¹

Plant maintenance is also relatively easy. Root balls should always be moist, but the leaves should not be watered; so, a covered location is ideal. You should fertilize every two to three weeks (until the first fruit set).¹¹

As soon as the fruit is bright red (or yellow or orange, depending on the variety) and has a firm skin, the cherry tomatoes are ready to be harvested. When harvesting, be careful not to damage the fruit.¹¹

Additional information

The cherry tomato (Solanum lycopersicum var. cerasiforme), is a variety of the tomato (Solanum lycopersicum), and belongs to the nightshade family (Solanaceae).

Current breeding methods for new tomato varieties focus on traits such as color, firmness, flavor and high carotenoid content. These fruit quality traits are more common in traditional varieties than in more modern varieties that are primarily designed for high productivity. The inclusion of cherry tomatoes in breeding programs offers great potential; valuable traits are their genetic diversity and wide geographic range. Desired cherry tomato traits include disease resistance, soluble solids content, as well as fruit size, flavor, texture, pigmentation and post-harvest quality.¹⁰

Alternate names

Cherry tomatoes are also called grape tomatoes and cherry plum tomatoes.

Author: Sonali Mookerjee | 8 Jul 2023