Solanum lycopersicon

 The tomato, Solanum lycopersicon (synonym= Lycopersicon edulis) is a species of nightshade indigenous to Mexico. The wild form (not to be confused with its close relative, the “wild tomato,” or Peruvian nightshade, Solanum peruvianum) has small, edible yellow berries. Through several centuries of domestication, the cultivated form has much larger fruit, often various shades of red. Although the fruit is edible, the plant, itself, is toxic. The tomato plant is occasionally used in medicinal tisanes or soups to treat acute dysentery, but, this should not be recommended under any but the direst of circumstances. The toxic alkaloids in the tomato plant grievously injure stomach qi, causing intense gastralgia, vomiting, stomach convulsions, and occasionally, death

When the tomato was first introduced into Europe by the Spanish during the mid-sixteenth century, many people shunned it as a potentially dangerously poisonous plant, noting its relationship to other nightshades. Despite this, the tomato was still cultivated as an ornamental garden plant, as its large fruit were in demand as tabletop decorations. Eventually, though, as more Europeans became more convinced of the tomato’s edibility, these decorative varieties fell out of favor as edible varieties continued increasing in popularity.

In China, the tomato is rarely seen in local cuisines for more prosaic reasons, in that the Chinese have had difficulty adapting culinarily to such a sour vegetable. As such, the tomato in China is usually eaten with sugar as a digestive or appetite stimulant. Some medicinal dishes include tomatoes to help clear heat, such as heat caused from yin deficiency from the body, lower mild fevers, or soothe sore throats while suffering from mild, wind-heat flu.