I cut into a tomato today and thought I saw a worm (gag!) but upon closer inspection it looked like a sprout. A couple other tomatoes had the same and I think they might have started to sprout after being in my pantry for a week. I knew the tomatoes where a little old, but they didn’t look like they’d spoiled yet so I was going to blend them up into salsa. Does anyone know if it would be okay to eat the ‘sprouts’? I seem to remember something about tomato plants being part of the night shade family and that you shouldn’t eat the plant, so I don’t know if that would also apply to a sprout, if that’s what they’re doing.
Thanks,
Marisa
Tomatoe seed sprouts! I have seen this often in the ‘tomato on the vine’ type of produce sold in my local grocery here in Washington State, and all I can think of is the episode of Victory Garden on PBS where they were talking about how to save tomatoe seeds over the season and plant them for the next year.
They said that the ‘gel’ sack surrounding each seed has germination inhibitor enzymes that prevent the seed from sprouting, so… to get seeds to sprout one needs to squeeze the seeds out into a bowl, let them ROT till mouldy and frothy and then rinse well and strain/drain them and carefully air dry. Then they are ready to go in your seed starter peat cups…
I think when we see sprouts (especially in) store bought tomatoes they must be older than we thought. Older than they look. I know they pick them green and gas them to look red, so they could be geriatric red tomatoes even though they feel quite firm. I always think they smell a bit ‘off’ even though they don’t taste ‘bad’. Of course they don’t taste like we all know REAL tomatoes taste…