Green tomatoes: useful properties and contraindications

It is not always possible to get a rich and, most importantly, a ripe harvest in the fall. Sometimes, due to unpredictable weather conditions, you have to gather vegetables still unripe. With tomatoes, this is often the case. One can't throw away unripe product, so what can be done with it? Are they edible? How can it help the body? These and other questions can be answered in this article.

Most often people eat tomatoes that are already ripe. Having collected unripe vegetables from their garden plot, sometimes vegetable growers do not know what to do with them. You can collect them in a paper box and wait until they turn red and ripe, or make a lot of winter preserves, not inferior in taste and usefulness to their ripe companions, which will surely please the whole family.

Composition and calories

Ripe tomatoes, of course, differ in their chemical composition, the number of calories from unripe brethren, which turn out to be less full of calories. In 100 grams of unripe tomatoes - 23 kcal. This vegetable is the most rich in carbohydrates, while it has the minimum amount of proteins and almost no fats.

The composition of the unripe fruit is rich in vitamins A and B. There are macronutrients such as phosphorus, calcium, magnesium, potassium, sodium. The product is rich in iron, manganese, copper, zinc, selenium and aluminum. It contains amino acids: leucine, alanine, glycine, serine, methionine, cysteine, isoleucine, threonine, proline, phenylalanine, tyrosine, arginine, lysine, tryptophan, histidine, and valine, asparagine and glutamic, omega-3 fatty acids, and omega-6. Water takes up most of the composition, but the vegetable is full of dietary fiber as well as ash.

The unripe fruit contains a harmful toxic substance that can adversely affect the general state of the human body - solanine. In addition to it, tomato has tomatin and lycopene.

Solanine, which refers to poisonous glycoalkaloids, protects the vegetable from the appearance of mold fungus until the ripening period. Solanine in small amounts has a positive effect on vascular and heart function. This glycoalkaloid has a diuretic effect, protects the body from viruses, and also has an antispasmodic effect. But if you exceed the permissible dosage, it has a negative effect on the nervous system and destroys the function of oxygen transport by red blood cells. Poisoning with unripe fruits can be fast enough after consuming 5 or 6 green tomatoes. Pain occurs in the temple area, there is carvings and discomfort in the abdomen, diarrhea and nausea begins. If poisoned by this substance, there is a high risk of death. Therefore, you should be quite careful when eating unripe fruits.

Another dangerous substance that carries poison in itself, included in the composition of unripe tomatoes, is tomatine. Its content in unripe tomatoes is minimal, since to poison the body you need to eat 4-5 kilograms of tomatoes at once. Small doses of tomatine have a beneficial effect on the body thanks to its antioxidant and immunomodulatory effects. Also, this substance contributes to accelerated growth of muscle mass with the use of exercise, helps the body to break down fats faster. Tomatin is the basis for the medical drug cortisone.

The color of the fruit depends on a substance such as lycopene. It serves as the strongest antioxidant and protector against mutant cells, inhibits the formation of cancerous inflammation and its effect on DNA, opposes the development of cataracts, can prevent changes in the lens, and helps reduce the risk of atherosclerosis. This substance stabilizes blood pressure and lowers cholesterol levels.

This substance, unlike the previous two, has no toxic effects. The only thing that may happen in overdose is a change in skin color. But this side effect passes after excluding the product from the diet.

Serotonin is also found in tomatoes, otherwise known as the happiness hormone. This substance increases the emotional state, having a favorable effect on the working brain, and normalizes the transmission of nerve impulses in the human body.

What are the benefits of green tomatoes

Unripe fruits help the body cope with stomach acid-alkaline balance problems, intestinal diseases, varicose veins. Green tomato slices are excellent for fighting varicose veins. Phytoncides, which are found in the vegetables in small quantities, help reduce inflammation in the body. Useful macro- and micronutrients in tomatoes have an immunomodulatory effect on the entire body.

Green vegetables help to reduce blood pressure because of their high potassium content, they support stable functioning of both the nervous and muscular systems, on which the work of the heart directly depends.

Green tomatoes serve as an effective way to combat hypertension. Lycopene, which is in the composition of the vegetable, helps to reduce cholesterol.

Green tomatoes in cosmetology

The weekly use of tomatoes in the form of masks will soften the epidermis, smooth fine wrinkles, give the face a fresh and rested look. Tomato mask helps to strengthen the regeneration processes of cells, restores the overall condition of the skin. It penetrates deep into the epidermis, moisturizing them, evens the complexion, helps in eliminating inflammation and infections on the skin, can cope with blackheads and pimples. Tomato mask narrows pores on the face, copes well with excess pigments, helps whiten freckles and eliminate black spots, stimulates the body to produce collagen, which affects the elasticity and firmness of the skin. Before using a tomato mask, it is recommended to test-check to avoid negative consequences.

Harms and contraindications

Unripe tomatoes are better not to eat allergic people, people who have problems with kidneys, joints and bones, pancreatic diseases, cardiovascular pathologies. They are contraindicated during pregnancy and while breastfeeding.

Including unripe tomatoes in your diet in excessive quantities, you can get poisoning because of the high content of solanine. Problems may also arise with the liver because of the high content of nitrates.

Can I eat green tomatoes?

Unripe tomatoes can be eaten if they have been previously heat treated. Before eating fresh vegetables beforehand it should be soaked in salted water for three hours, changing the brine several times, then the harmful substances will be safe for the health of the body.

What can be cooked from green tomatoes: recipes

Green tomatoes are a great product for winter preserves: making salads, caviar, adjika, lecho, sauces, dressings, and more. They will prove no less delicious than with ripe tomatoes.

Salad

To make a salad from unripe vegetables, you need to prepare the following ingredients:

• unripe vegetables - 3 kg;
• fresh carrot - 1 kg 200 g
• onions - half a kilogram;
• sweet pepper - 200 g
• granulated sugar - 1 cup;
• vegetable oil - 1 cup;
• ground red pepper - 10 gr;
• salt - 25 g;
• tomato sauce - 500 gr.

Cooking steps:

1. Dice tomatoes, onions, peppers, grate carrots as for Korean salad or also finely chop.
2. Put all the ingredients in one large container, mix everything, adding tomato sauce and season with vegetable oil.
3. Place the pan on the stove and bring the mixture to a boil.
4. Once the mixture comes to a boil, salt it and add sugar (and pepper the mass). Cook the salad for about three hours, remembering to stir it periodically.
5. As soon as the salad is ready, immediately roll it in clean sterilized jars or sterilize in hot water, pre-fill and cover the containers.
6. Close the jars, place them on a towel with the lids facing down until they are completely cooled.

Soup

To make soup from unripe tomatoes, you will need the following ingredients:

• chicken broth - 2 l;
• fresh cabbage - 350 g
• potatoes - 250 g;
• bell peppers - 1 pc;
• green tomatoes - 250 g
• onions - 1 pc;
• fresh carrots - 1 pc;
• butter - 45 g;
• salt, pepper - to taste;
• tomato paste - 10 g;
• parsley for decoration.

Preparation steps:

1. Dice potatoes, peppers and onions. Tomatoes cut into small half slices. Grate carrots, shred cabbage.
2. Bring chicken broth to a boil and add potatoes to it.
3. After 6 minutes, add the fresh cabbage and green vegetables.
4. In a heated frying pan with butter add carrots and onions, then add the same pepper.
5. Dissolve tomato paste in a little water and add to the vegetables in the pan. Braise the vegetables for no more than 5 minutes.
6. Add the contents of the pan to the soup, cook for no more than 3-4 minutes and turn off. Season with salt.
7. Before serving garnish with fresh parsley, if you want you can add ground pepper.

Caviar

To prepare the caviar you need to prepare the following components:

• green tomatoes - 8 kg;
• fresh carrots - 1,5 kg;
• Onions - 1-1,5 kg;
• Refined vegetable oil - 400 grams;
• granulated sugar - 200 gr;
• salt - 150 gr;
• ground black pepper - 15 gr.

Cooking steps:

1. Cut unripe tomatoes into small cubes or twist through a meat grinder with wide holes.
2. Grate on a coarse grater carrots.
3. Dice the onion and add immediately to the carrots.
4. Place the vegetables in a bowl with a thick bottom, add vegetable oil and fry until the onions are golden brown.
5. Add pepper, salt, tomatoes and sugar and stir everything together.
6. Reduce heat to low and simmer for about 2.5 hours.
7. Put the salad into pasteurized jars and leave in a warm place until it cools.

Ajika

To prepare adjika you need to prepare the following products:

• unripe tomatoes - 2 kg;
• hot pepper - 200 gr;
• salt - 10 gr;
• ground black pepper - 5 gr;
• dry adjika - 10 gr;
• Refined sunflower oil - 80 g
• table vinegar - 45 gr;
• granulated sugar - 80 gr;
• seasoning with chopped suneli - 5 gr;
• fresh parsley.

Preparation steps:

1. Wash the tomatoes and cut them into four pieces.
2. Peel the peppers from the seeds, wash the parsley - all through a meat grinder.
3. Place the resulting mixture and chopped tomatoes in a saucepan, put on the fire and bring to a boil.
4. After boiling, add the rest of the ingredients and cook for about 30 minutes. Depending on your taste, you can change the amount of spices as you wish.
5. The mixture is ready to spread in presterilized jars, close and cool at normal room temperature.

Lecho

For the preparation you will need the following ingredients:

• green tomatoes - 1 kg;
• ripe tomatoes - 700 grams;
• red bell bell pepper - 300 g
• spring onions - 350 grams;
• tomato paste - 20 g
• refined sunflower oil - 100 ml;
• granulated sugar - 40 gr;
• salt - 10 gr;
• ground black pepper - 5 gr;
• table vinegar - 50 ml.

Preparation steps:

1. Wash all the vegetables. Sort for bad and spoiled before cooking.
2. Cut green tomatoes into quarters and salt them a lot so that they get rid of harmful substance - solanine. Leave the tomatoes in this form for several hours.
3. Peel the onion and immediately cut into thin half rings, dice the peppers into large cubes.
4. Pass the red tomatoes through a meat grinder or beat in a blender until mashed.
5. Put the resulting tomato puree into a saucepan, add salt and pepper and bring to a boil, simmering for about 5-6 minutes.
6. Drain the green tomatoes, no need to rinse, immediately add to the hot sauce on the stove.
7. Reduce the heat and simmer for about an hour, stirring occasionally.
8. After that, add the peppers and onions to the resulting mixture, simmer for about 20 minutes more.
9. Taste and season with salt and sugar as needed. At the end of cooking, add vinegar and boil again.
10. Spread into clean sterilized jars and seal. Put it to cool down covered with a warm blanket.

Sauce

To make the sauce you will need the following products:

• tomatoes - 1 kg;
• hot green pepper - 1 pc;
• 1 medium garlic;
• granulated sugar - 1 cup;
• ground ginger - 5 g;
• salt - 5 gr;
• the juice of one lemon.

Preparation steps:

1. Wash the unripe fruits, remove the stalks. Put the vegetables in a colander and scald them with boiling water. Place them in hot water for a few minutes. This will help get rid of the harmful toxic solanine, which is in large quantities in green tomatoes.
2. Cut the tomatoes into small pieces. Place them in a saucepan with a thick bottom, add sugar and leave for a few hours.
3. Then put the pot on fire, gradually bring it to the boil.
4. Cut the garlic, peppers into small pieces. It is important to remove all seeds from the pepper. After 20 minutes from the boiling point, add the chopped vegetables, lemon juice and a spoonful of powdered ginger.
5. Remove the container from the heat and allow to cool for about 2-3 hours. After that, boil it again and keep it in this state for another 15 minutes on the stove.
6. The resulting sauce spread into sterilized jars, then close tightly with lids and leave to cool, covered with a warm blanket or jacket.

Ketchup .

To prepare it, you need the following ingredients:

• Unripe tomatoes - 1 kg 500 g;
• 1 medium green apple;
• Green hot pepper - 1 pc. or to taste;
• black pepper, salt and sugar to taste;
• green onions and parsley leaves - 25g each;
• several cloves of fresh garlic;
• vinegar essence - 5 drops.

Preparation steps:

1. Peel the apple from the skin and cut into small pieces.
2. Unripe tomatoes cut into 4 parts and then simply pass through a meat grinder or grind into mush in a blender.
3. Slices of apple is twisted in a meat grinder or in a blender until the consistency of puree.
4. Put the resulting mixture into a heavy-bottomed saucepan, stir and cook for about half an hour over low heat, removing the foam that forms.
5. Add the seasoning. Finely chop onion, pepper and parsley, pass the garlic through a garlic slicer or grate it on a fine grater. Add pepper and salt and sugar.
6. Stir everything and continue to cook over low heat for another half hour or so. To get a more pleasant ketchup consistency, it is advisable to pass the mixture through a sieve.
7. Bring the ingredients to a boil, add the essence, and stir everything well.
8. Spread the ready ketchup into washed and sterilized jars, close tightly and let rest, covering with a warm towel.

Jam

To prepare the following ingredients will be needed according to the recipe:

• green tomatoes - 1 kg;
• the average orange;
• granulated sugar - 250 g.

Stages of preparation:

1. Green vegetables are washed, peeled from the stalks and soak for a few hours in cold water.
2. After that, cut into 4 pieces, put in a large saucepan with a thick bottom, add sugar and put on the fire to boil.
3. Peel the orange peel, there is no need to throw it away, it will still be useful. Squeeze all the juice out of it.
4. At the end of the jam, add the orange peels, pour in the juice and simmer for about 5 minutes.
5. Place the jam in sterilized clean jars, close with lids. Allow to rest.

Soaked green tomatoes

To prepare dried green tomatoes, you need to prepare the following products:

• immature tomatoes - 2 kg;
• fresh garlic - 1 head;
• horseradish root - 3 pcs;
• cherry leaves, black currant, raspberry and horseradish - 1 bunch each;
• allspice - 12 pcs;
• salt - 4 tablespoons;
• bay leaves - 5 pcs;
• dry mustard - 2 tablespoons;
• Hot pepper - 1-2 pods.

Stages of preparation:

1. Prepare everything you need, wash and dry.
2. Take a pot with a thick bottom or other deep container, spread clean leaves on the bottom, put tomatoes on top. Alternate layers until the products are done.
3. In between the layers place the bay leaves, garlic cloves, peppercorns and green peppercorns.
4. Dissolve sugar and salt separately in a small amount of water. Pour the brine into a container with tomatoes, add water so that all the tomatoes were in it completely.
5. Sprinkle mustard powder on top to prevent mildew.
6. Keep the tomatoes for 14 days at room temperature, then put them in a cold dark place.

The finished product can be consumed a month after cooking.

How to pickle and pickle

For the preparation you need the following products:

• green tomatoes - 1 kg;
• garlic - 3 cloves;
• refined sunflower oil - 2 tbsp;
• granulated sugar - 3 tbsp;
• salt - 2-3 tbsp. or to taste;
• 9% table vinegar - 200 ml.

Preparation steps:

1. Wash the tomatoes, cut into slices.
2. Garlic peel and crush in a garlic masher. Add a mixture of vinegar, salt and sugar to the vegetables.
3. Add the refined sunflower oil to the mixture.
4. Cover with a lid or wrap tightly in clingfilm and put in a cool place.
5. Leave to marinate for 2-3 days. At the end of time, pickled tomatoes are ready to eat.

Recipe 2
For cooking in the kitchen you need the following components:

• green tomatoes - 10 kg;
• black currant leaves - 10 pcs;
• bitter green peppers - 2 pcs;
• parsley - 2-3 bundles;
• green dill - 210 grams;
• 70 g of salt for each liter of water.

Process:

1. Wash the tomatoes and spread them on the bottom of a container, adding all the necessary spices.
2. Sprinkle everything with salt.
3. Fill the container with cold water so that it covers the uppermost layer of vegetables.

How to store green tomatoes so they turn red

For tomatoes to ripen more quickly, you need to put them in a paper bag, put a banana between them, as it secretes a special enzyme that helps to accelerate the process. You can put tomatoes in a cardboard box or lay a blanket on the floor and cover it with fruit, in a warm room with poor lighting they will quickly ripen. Unripe tomatoes can be "planted" with ripe fruits.

Can animals be given green tomatoes

Untreated fresh green tomatoes should not be given to animals because of the high content of toxic solanine. It can be fatal.

How to remove solanine from green tomatoes

To get rid of solanine in tomatoes, you need to pour them in salty hot water and let them stand for about half an hour. Repeat the procedure using fresh water. You can simply leave the tomatoes in cold water for 3-4 hours.

Interesting facts about tomatoes

1. There are varieties that grow higher than 2 m in height. The lowest tomatoes do not reach even 30 cm.
2. The name of the vegetable comes from the Italian language, where it is called the golden apple.
3. The choline contained in the tomato is excellent for lowering blood cholesterol levels.
4. The tomato can be used to make the world-famous gazpacho soup.
5. The native origin is considered South America, in the natural environment and now you can find a wild variety of tomato.
6. The very first tomato recipe was shared by a chef from Naples, publishing it in a cookbook in 1692.
7. Earlier the vegetable was grown as an exotic ornamental plant, as it was considered impossible to eat this poisonous fruit.
8. Tomatoes did not appear in Russia until the 18th century.
9. The largest supplier of tomatoes in the world is China, then India, and then the United States.
10. Tomatoes are often used in folk medicine, they are excellent for healing wounds, help with burns, as the pulp of the vegetable contains a natural antibiotic - phytoncide, which prevents the development of infectious processes.
11. In cool climates, at temperatures no higher than 10 degrees the vegetable dies.
12. Favorable conditions contribute to the preservation of seeds up to 9 years.
13. Unripe vegetables can ripen not only on the bush.
14. Some scientists refer to tomatoes as berries.
15. Tomatoes contain a lot of fiber, various vitamins necessary for the good work of the body.
16. There is a monument in the world dedicated to the tomato, it is located in Ukraine.
17. A large tomato grown in Wisconsin weighed almost 3 kg.
18. Red tomatoes contain more nutrients than yellow tomatoes.
19. Green tomatoes are poisonous.

Photo of green tomatoes