Coconut , Coppertone , saltwater , freshly rationalize grass , and charcoal lumps smoking on the BBQ . These are some of the smells that reminded me of summer when I was growing up . And now as a nurseryman , tomato plant leaves make that happy list .
While there ’s no famine of Coppertone and BBQ on a hot summertime 24-hour interval , the one smell that rightfully usher in summertime and close it out is the wise , earthy , viney , fragrant fragrance of saucy love apple leave as you brush against them — either totrellis the vinesin June or to pull up the last dawdle industrial plant in October .
Have you ever wondered where , exactly , that classifiable flavor comes from ?
It ’s not in the fruit , no matter how high perfume thatheirloom tomato varietymay be . It ’s only in the leave , stem , and sepal ( those little unripened “ hat ” on the flowers and yield ) , and even on petite seedlings that have barely find the sun . It ’s an unmistakable smell that no other flora shares , and people either get it on it or they hate it .
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Though I ’m firmly in the “ love it ” camp , I have to wonder whether the makers ofthis $ 15 colognewent too far . ( The aroma is described as the “ scent that tomato leaves allow on your hand . ” )
But if you ’re not the cologne type , there ’s alwaysthis soy candle(that comes in a plantable box ! ) marketed as a “ picked - fresh - from - the - vine fragrant experience . ”
But I digress . How and why do tomato leaves have that unparalleled smell ?
If you try out a tomato plant up tight , you may notice that the leafage is covered in unretentive , fine , whisker - like structures . These hairs ( what I dearly knight tomato fuzz ) are know as trichomes , and they serve a variety of function and exist on many other plant as well .
On a Lycopersicon esculentum plant , several type of trichomes are found on the prow , leaves , and sepals .
One type crop to lose weight evaporation of piss by trapping wet on the surface of the foliage . Another helps shield the plant life against environmental tenseness like uttermost temperatures , and yet another type ( glandular trichomes ) curb watch glass and oils in the bulbous section of the structures , seen here on the ends .
It ’s believe that these crystal and oils are part of the plant ’s defense mechanism . They farm an unpleasant smell , gustation , and smell meant to protect the plant from insects that might bung on its foliage .
It ’s a little ironic that what might be considered “ unpleasant ” by pests can in fact be so intoxicating to the rest of us !
The substantive crude are creditworthy for giving the tomato industrial plant its characteristic smell , as well as the sticky yellow-bellied secernment you ’ve in all probability had all over your hands after a day of harvesting tomatoes .
( As an apart , you might remember this post about whether or nottomato leaves are poisonous , where I wrote about a glycoalkaloid called tomatine that ’s present in love apple leaves . Tomatine is stored in the glandular trichomes as well . )
Within the rock oil , thevolatile compoundsthat contribute most to tomato leaf smell are ( Z)-3 - hexenal , limonene , hexanal , ( E)-2 - hexenal , eugenol , 1,8 - cineole , caryophyllene , genus Beta - phellandrene , humulene , and linalool .
These compound , conjointly , are exclusive to tomato trichomes — which is why no other plant smells like it .
If you want to tot a distinctively tomatoey flavor to your tomato sauce or tomato soup , simply steep a few branchlet of Lycopersicon esculentum leaves in the pot the same way you would plunge some bay leaves .
As the trichomes burst and free their rock oil , the herbal perfume will infuse your dish with a deep stratum of flavour that can only be draw as … summertime !
Want tomato leaf recipes ?
I share my favorites in my record book , The No - Waste Vegetable Cookbook , which helps you harvest , cook , and eat not only tomato leaves , but other delicious plant from your garden like squash vine leaves , pea shoots , and sweet potato vine .
This post updated from an clause that in the beginning appear on September 17 , 2015 .
View Web Story on thesmell of tomato leaves .
