General description and special characteristics – The tomato originated in South America as a weed in fields of corn, butwas domesticated in Mexico and Central America. From there it spread around the globe. The plant is erect or spreadingand viney, and coarsely hairy with small yellow flowers. Hundreds of varieties exist with fruits of different shapes, sizesand colors. It is closely related to potatoes, eggplants and peppers, all of which are in the Solanaceae family.
Varieties -
- Burmese (พันธุ์ท้องถิ่นพม่า): Medium sized variety, producing dark red fruit. Indeterminate.
- Local Variety (พันธุ์ท้องถิ่นลูกเล็ก): Small, cherry tomato variety. Grows easily on almost any soil as an annual vegetable. Produces many sour/sweet fruits with bumpy shape.
- Mae Tha (พันธ์ท้องถิ่นแม่ทา): Large sweet variety that can be used for making tomato sauce.
- Tommy Toe (พันธุ์ท้องถิ่นทอมมี่): An heirloom cherry tomato variety, well known for its juiciness and flavor as well as general disease resistance. Fruits are 2.5 cm (1 in) and prolific.
- Yellow Pear (พันธุ์ลูกแพร): Yellow, sweet variety. Often eaten as a fresh vegetable.
- Sansai (พันธุ์ท้องถิ่นสันทราย): Similar looking to Tommy Toe variety. but more yield than Tommy Toe