Are Tomato Seeds Poisonous?
Tomato seeds are not poisonous and are safe to eat. In fact, tomato seeds are a good source of nutrients, including protein, fiber, and minerals. However, the leaves, stem, and green unripe fruit of the tomato plant contain small amounts of the toxic compound solanine, which can cause stomachache and other digestive symptoms if ingested in large amounts.
Advantages | Disadvantages |
They are good for your heart | Tomato seeds can cause death |
Tomato seeds are great for your skin | It can cause digestive problems |
They give you immunity, and weight control | It can cause food poisoning |
If you do choose to feed tomatoes to your rabbit, thoroughly wash it down to get rid of any toxins or pesticides. If your rabbit likes the taste of tomatoes, you may want to use them as a little treat to reinforce your bond with your rabbit. While tomatoes are delicious, they are high in sugar and low in fiber, so your rabbit should not consume more than 1/4 cup of tomatoes a day. Their leaves actually contain toxic alkaloids including tomatine and solanine, but not in enough quantities to be lethal.
While tomato plants do contain the toxic alkaloid known as solanine, it is concentrated most heavily in their stalks and leaves. A glycoalkaloid known as tomatine is found in unripe tomatoes, and also in the leaves and stems of the tomato plant. It is highest in concentrations in leaves, stems, and unripe fruits; red, ripe tomatoes contain very low amounts of tomatine. The fruit is not, but the leaves, roots and stems (and, at a reduced dosage, even some unripe fruits) are rich in tomatine, a moderately toxic alkaloids for humans.
While it is true that tomatoes are members of the nightshade family, they actually produce a slightly different alkaloid called tomatine. A member of the deadly nightshade family, tomatoes were mistakenly thought to be poisonous (although poisonous leaves are) by Europeans, who were suspicious of their shiny, shiny fruits.
Before tomatoes made it to the North American dinner table, they were classified as a deadly nightshade, a toxic family of plants of the Solanaceae plant group, which contains toxins called tropane alkaloids. Because the tomato plants fruit looked so like a Belladonnas, it was called wolfspear. Botanically, a tomato is a fruit, and it could further be classified as a berry, as it is fleshy and has edible seeds. In fact, the plant which produces tomatoes began to be grown in Europe only until the 18th century, as a decorative plant for gardens, not for food, because it was considered to be a poisonous plant.
The tomatoes high acidity made it an ideal candidate for canning, and this was a major reason why tomatoes were canned at greater rates than any other fruit or vegetable until the late nineteenth century. The high acidity in a tomato will make it leach lead off of a dish, leading many diners to be affected with lead poisoning as a result, sometimes fatally. Because tomatoes are so high acidity, the fruits would leach lead from the plates when placed onto a pewter dish, causing many deaths due to lead poisoning.
Another myth attributes wealthy nobles deaths to their love for tomatoes, nicknamed the fruit poison apples (in reality, tomatoes probably played a role in their deaths, since its high acidity released the lead in their fancy pewter plates, causing them to become lead poisoned. The nickname given to this fruit was the poison apples because aristocrats were thought to have become sick and died after eating it, but the fact is, rich Europeans used high lead pewter plates.
Lead poisoning further damaged the tomatos reputation, no one thought to draw a link between plates and poison. No one made that connection between plate and poison back then; tomatoes were singled out as the perpetrator. John Gerards damning charge, combined with the plants entire connection with the mandrake, itself a poisonous plant, was enough to set up a canard that tomatoes were poisonous, too.
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Ingestion of plants which yield tomatoes causes damage to the gastrointestinal tract, liver, and heart, leading to death if intake is extremely high. It would take an enormous amount of tomatoes bud, leaves and stems to produce toxic amounts for humans; eating just one or two is unlikely to result in any kind of health problems.
This toxin is found in tomatoes, but is also found in other fruits, like eggplants, bell peppers, potatoes, and cucumbers. Tomatoes contain solanine and alpha-tomatine, which are two toxic compounds that are also found in night-shade plants like green potatoes and eggplants. Consistent studies have shown that eating tomatoes excessively may lead to joint swelling and pain because they are packed with an alkaloid called solanine.
According to one Polish study, tomatoes contain a compound called histamine, which may trigger some allergic reactions ( 8 ). Just like bananas and a few other fruits and vegetables, tomatoes contain ethylene gas, which causes them to ripen.
The skin, seeds, and flesh of tomatoes can all be used in food because of the number of health benefits they have . As the seeds of tomatoes are an abundant source of vitamin C, therefore, they are good for your heart, skin, immunity, and weight control. It also contains significant amounts of digestible amino acids and TMEn, which may further enhance digestion . Tomato seeds are not any different, since they may cause negative effects in some individuals depending on their existing health conditions, allergies, and other factors.
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Although there is no scientific evidence to suggest that eating tomato seeds would cause kidney stones, there is a claim that eating them may make conditions worse for a person with kidney stones already. Tomato seeds are bad for the kidneys because they contain high levels of oxalates, which cause the buildup of calcium in the kidneys. Unlike drugs such as aspirin, there are no side effects from tomatoes seeds, and you can use tomatoes seeds as a cardiovascular preventive. Like the fruits and vegetables that are also found in Solanaceae plants–the eggplant, for instance–the tomato has earned its own dark reputation for being both toxic and tempting.
Why you shouldn’t eat tomato seeds?
A moderate amount of tomatoes with the seeds will not be harmful to your health, but people who have digestive problems should avoid eating raw tomatoes or tomato seeds because of their acidic nature, which can cause heartburn and have negative effects on the digestive system.
Are tomato seeds safe to eat?
A moderate amount of tomatoes without removal of seeds will not be harmful to your health, but those who have digestive problems should avoid eating raw tomatoes or tomato seeds because of their acidic nature, which can cause heartburn and have bad impacts on the gastrointestinal tract.
Are tomato seeds bad for kidney stones?
Although tomato plants do contain the dangerous alkaloid solanine, tomato seeds are not dangerous. Moreover, some people relate health issues with tomato seeds. It is untrue that tomato seeds cause kidney stones, despite what the myth claims. You shouldn’t be concerned that tomatoes with seeds may harm your kidneys.