Eating green tomatoes is easy to poison

Georges Washington - America's first president - was poisoned by the conspiracy chef by cooking him a dish with . green tomatoes.

To get the position today, tomatoes have gone through many ups and downs. Although in Europe for a long time, but several hundred years later, tomatoes are still considered by Spanish people as ornamental plants with poisonous fruits. In the early 19th century, Americans still recorded in the plant dictionary: 'Although tomatoes are considered poisonous plants, but in Italy people eat it with chili, garlic and butter'.

Because tomatoes are considered a wild fruit with a strong poison, there has been a case of tomatoes in the United States: Between 1776, Jien Beckli, the private cook of General Georges Washington (who was later the US president), collusion with British colonialists plotting to poison him. While cooking, Beckli took some of the tomatoes and turned them into a delicious dish for Washington and told the British army that the plan was done. Those who plotted anxiously waiting for the funeral. But nothing happened, Washington did eat that tomato but didn't die but lived another 23 years to beat the British. Britain kept the case very well and it was only until 1820 (when both Washington and Beckli died) that it was revealed.

At the beginning of the 20th century, many Americans still considered tomatoes a wild fruit, even in New Jersey state that enacted laws prohibiting growing tomatoes and banning them as food. By 1930, this law was abolished.

Green tomatoes contain toxins.
(Photo: Oardc.ohio-state.edu)

At the beginning of the 20th century, tomatoes were imported into Vietnam by the French and also " caused problems ". The autobiographical book To Hoai recorded: 'Field of field, two days of season harvested a tomato variety. Soldiers (stationed in the middle of the field and starving - the writer's grandfather is also among them) eating tomatoes all month. The robber of the dress died in a battle to eat tomatoes. Sure, they eat too much, they go out and spit on their bodies and then die. My grandfather was afraid of tomatoes until his old days. Every day the tray has tomato soup, just like my grandfather did not touch chopsticks'.

So is tomatoes toxic?

Why do people accuse poisonous tomatoes? Is it unfair? The truth is that in green tomatoes there is solanine - a relatively toxic alkaloid (there are many in this potato germ). When ripe tomatoes are no longer solanin. Maybe the old people were poisoned by eating green tomatoes or nurseries (not fully mature), so they condemned tomatoes for a long time.

In the retelling story of writer To Hoai, it is also easy to see: Hungry soldiers stationed in the fields full of tomatoes, of course, the tomatoes cannot be cooked in time to serve all those stomachs. To combat hunger, they have to eat green tomatoes; Eating too much may be contaminated with solanin.

Therefore, you should only eat tomatoes when they are fully cooked, not only to be delicious and also to ensure safety.