Rutgers Gardens, New Brunswick, NJ - USA

A plum tomato, also known as a processing tomato or paste tomato, is a type of tomato bred for sauce and packing purposes. They are generally oval or cylindrical in shape, with significantly fewer locules (seed compartments) than standard round tomatoes (usually only two) and a generally higher solid content, making them more suitable for processing. Plum tomatoes are also sometimes favored by cooks for use during the tomato off-season, as they are generally considered more amenable to handling and are therefore available in a state closer to ripe than other supermarket tomatoes.

Varieties commonly available in markets include Roma VF and San Marzano (semi-determinate; a signature tomato of Italian cuisine), though there are many other varieties, such as the short-season Ropreco Paste and the larger Amish Paste and Big Mama. Five hybrid cultivars grown in California constitute over 60% of total production of processing tomatoes. Small plum tomatoes (similar in size to cherry tomatoes) are known as grape tomatoes.

Hartz, T. et al. Processing Tomato Production in California. UC Vegetable Research and Information Center.

A stem is one of two main structural axes of a vascular plant. The stem is normally divided into nodes and internodes, the nodes hold buds which grow into one or more leaves, inflorescence (flowers), conifer cones, roots, other stems etc. The internodes distance one node from another. The term shoots is often confused with stems; shoots generally refer to new fresh plant growth and does include stems but also to other structures like leaves or flowers. The other main structural axis of plants is the root. In most plants stems are located above the soil surface but some plants have underground stems. A stem develops buds and shoots and usually grows above the ground. Inside the stem, materials move up and down the tissues of the transport system.

Stems have four main functions which are:

Tomato cultivars are commonly classified as determinate or indeterminate.

Determinate, or bush, types bear a full crop all at once and top off at a specific height; they are often good choices for container growing. Determinate types are preferred by commercial growers who wish to harvest a whole field at one time, or home growers interested in canning. Indeterminate cultivars develop into vines that never top off and continue producing until killed by frost. They are preferred by home growers who wish ripe fruit throughout the season. As an intermediate form, there are plants sometimes known as "vigorous determinate" or "semi-determinate"; these top off like determinates but produce a second crop after the initial crop. Many, if not all, heirloom tomatoes are indeterminate.

Vascular plants (from Latin vasculum: duct), also known as tracheophytes (from the equivalent Greek term trachea) and also higher plants, form a large group of plants that are defined as those land plants that have lignified tissues (the xylem) for conducting water and minerals throughout the plant. They also have (non-lignified) tissue to conduct products of photosynthesis. Vascular plants include the clubmosses, horsetails, ferns, gymnosperms (including conifers) and angiosperms (flowering plants). Scientific names for the group include Tracheophyta and Tracheobionta.

This is a list of current tomato cultivars.

Seasonality of food refers to the times of year when a given type food is at its peak, either in terms of harvest or its flavour. This is usually the time when the item is the cheapest and the freshest on the market. The food's peak time in terms of harvest usually coincides with when its flavour is at its best. There are some exceptions; an example being sweet potatoes which are best eaten quite a while after harvest.

This page serves as a guide to the seasonality of food. The list below is for foods common in the Northern Hemisphere.

There has been considerable controversy about how far people should be encouraged to eat seasonal food. In 2008, the chef Gordon Ramsay attracted media coverage when he stated that restaurants should be fined for serving non-seasonal food. In September and October 2008, Valentine Warner presented a programme for BBC Two, entitled What to Eat Now, persuading people to consume seasonal food.

In biology, an organ is a collection of tissues joined in a structural unit to serve a common function.

There is a "main" tissue, parenchyma, and "sporadic" tissues, stroma. The main tissue is the one that is unique for the specific organ. For example, the main tissue in the heart is the myocardium, while sporadic tissues include the nerves, blood and connective tissues. Functionally related organs often cooperate to form whole organ systems. Organs exist in all higher biological organisms, in particular they are not restricted to animals, but can also be identified in plants. In single-cell organisms like bacteria, the functional analogues of organs are called organelles.

A hollow organ is a visceral organ that is a hollow tube or pouch, such as the stomach or intestine, or that includes a cavity, like the heart or urinary bladder.