Thursday, February 4, 2010

Tomatoes: the hairy stem!

 

 That's our tomato seedlings, 
six of them.

Tomatoes are shiny and succulent when ripe. But the plant itself is fairly hairy. If  we look closely at tomato plants we will notice that it's covered with many short hairs called glandular trichomes. The picture shows our little tomato seedling still at four leaves. The hairs are very much visible....

Professor Rob Last, a geneticist at Michigan State University, told Australian scientists that tomato hairs, known as glandular trichomes, secrete a chemical compound known to contain an antibiotic quality, Australian Associated Press (AAP) has reported.
"Trichomes create the pungent aroma of ripe tomato leaves, and they are also biochemical factories of defensive compounds that deter insect pests and invading pathogens," explained Prof. Last.
Click here

12 comments:

  1. Very interesting posts about tomatoes and tumeric. Tumeric is one of those so called superfoods because it has anti-inflammatory properties.

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  2. That is interesting. I am planning on growing tomatoes and I am looking forward to them!

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  3. Those little hairy stems make my arms itch when I gather the tomatoes. I was wondering what they were for. Now I know, thank you. The leaves of beans have the same effect on my arms when I collect the beans. It does not last long the itch. I wash the arms and then the itch subsides. It is interesting because I have no Allergies whatsoever otherwise, just those hairy veggies irritate my skin.

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  4. never knew that before about the little hairs

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  5. i have harvested my first jagong. It is two inches long.
    LOL.

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  6. have to replant tomatoes. had a small crop while it lasted. Thanks for the info.

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  7. interesting...I didn't know it had antibiotic properties, thanks for this interesting tidbit!

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  8. that is pretty interesting. I don't like the smell of the tomato foliage. When I am tending to the tomatoes I have to wash right away....ick.

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  9. Interesting. I will be planting my tomato seeds soon.

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  10. Thanks everyone. The hairs have specific purpose. I am not too sure if our hair is comparable to tomato hairs. But I haven't heard of anyone being allergic to human hair.
    i love the smell of tomato, the fruit itself and the aroma from the stem and leaves..

    Cheers,
    ~bangchik

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  11. That's cool that tomatoes have trichomes. Marijuana also has trichomes they resemble small cats wearing top hats when looked at through a 30 x lens that's why growers call them fancy cats. Guy'll be like "check out these fancy cats' and his friend will be like "I'll get some chips"! And the guy'll be like "no way man you'll get salt on the fancy cats" his friend will be like "ding dong ding dong! Who's that wearin a hat? It's sir fancy cat"! A hush fell over the auditorium...Everyone turned to see a cat standing on its hind legs leaning on a cane. Wearing a tophat. The feline motioned forward pulling from behind his back, a tomato plant.

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