Immature (green) tomatoes do contain toxic alkaloids, but not enough to be harmful. This doesn’t mean that you should avoid fried green tomatoes though. Nights are getting cold, too cold for your tomatoes to mature on the vine, so you bring them in and put them in a warm spot. They were slow to gain acceptance in Europe and the US, not coming into common use until the early 1800s. Solanine is a poisonous substance naturally occurring in potatoes and other members of the nightshade family, like tomatoes and eggplants. Tomatine is also toxic but less so. After all, the plant wants to protect its immature green fruits from predation so they can mature safely and produce viable seeds, so it makes sense green fruits should be toxic, yet mature fruits were designed to be eaten by animals. And don’t eat bowlfuls of green tomatoes, either. Do note that cooking does not destroy alkaloids (it does destroy other toxic compounds), although they do dissolve in water to a certain degree, so if you boil green tomatoes and drain away the cooking water, that would reduce their toxicity. Green tomatoes contain the alkaloid toxin called solanine, which is why they are poisonous. Tomato ‘Marinda’ - just as tasty when green. Look at a tomato long enough and it starts to look weirder and weirder, but is it also toxic? Solanine can be toxic even in small amounts, and in very large doses, it can also be fatal. Don’t feed green tomatoes to your pets. Tomato Is Toxic To Dogs. April 24, 2017 By Jane Miles 4 Comments. The second group containes green zebra, green pinaple tomatoes, green grape and green giant tomatoes. Tomato Leaves and Their Poisonous Rap Wariness about tomato leaves stems, in large part, from the plant’s status as part of the nightshade family. Their toxicity is quite limited. People have gotten ill by overeating spinach and carrots, for example. They get pickled, and because they are more firm than ripe tomatoes, they pickle reasonably well. However, when ingested in extremely large doses, it may cause gastrointestinal problems, liver and even heart damage. Green tomatoes can refer to tomatoes that have failed to ripen properly. If a green tomato recipe tastes bitter to you, the cook probably used very immature tomatoes that may be fairly rich in toxins, so don’t eat a lot of it. They are reputed to have been used in witchcraft and as an aphrodisiac and, thus, were slow to gain acceptance as a food crop. Green Fruits Too. But green tomatoes are not that dangerous: a solanine content of up to 32 milligrams per 100 grams was measured. But Tomatillos aren’t baby tomatoes. In fact, there are only a few. Under that circumstance, a cooked green tomato will be just as rich in alkaloids as a raw one. She was offended, that is, until I showed her your article. Ingestion can cause severe gastrointestinal distress (e.g., vomiting, diarrhea), lethargy, weakness, & even confusion. Don’t eat potato fruits. It does not matter if the plant is indoors in a container, or out in your garden. The green fruit, as well as the stems and leaves of the tomato plant, can make your cat sick and even can be fatal. https://laidbackgardener.blog/.../garden-myth-are-green-tomatoes-poisonous So, we can consume a lot of plants and plant-derived foods that other animals (including our dogs, cats and other pets) can’t: onions, coffee, chocolate, walnuts, garlic, etc. This plant family contains more than 3000 species with the most common cultivars in our area being tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, eggplants, ground cherries and tomatillos. 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