Xinhua Online Haihai, September 6 (Reporter Li Rong) According to the "Agricultural Hotline" consultation platform sponsored by the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Agriculture, there is a saying recently that "tomatoes contain nicotine, and eating tomatoes raw is equivalent to smoking and will cause cancer". Some citizens called to ask about the scientific nature of this statement, and relevant experts said that the above statement has no scientific basis.

Tomatoes are a healthy food. Although it contains nicotine, its content is extremely low. Eating 1 0,000 kg of fresh tomatoes is only equivalent to smoking 1 cigarette, and the two are not in the same breath at all. Experts call on consumers to eat tomatoes with confidence.

According to Shanghai's "Agricultural Hotline", the saying that "eating tomatoes raw equals smoking" comes from media hype, which has aroused some people's doubts. According to the statistics of a large farmer's market in Shanghai, the price of tomatoes once dropped by half, and the sales volume also dropped by two-fifths.

Xu Youwei, a senior agronomist at Shanghai Academy of Agricultural Sciences, said that there is no scientific basis for saying that "eating tomatoes raw equals smoking". Tomatoes are both vegetables and fruits. Among the 10 foods recommended by Time magazine, tomatoes rank first. Tomato is not only rich in vitamins, minerals and dietary fiber, but also a good medicine. Its unique lycopene can inhibit bacteria, increase appetite and inhibit the occurrence of some cancers.

The expert said that although tomatoes contain nicotine, the content is extremely low, with only 2 to 7 micrograms of nicotine per/kloc-0.000 grams of tomatoes. With the gradual maturity of tomato fruit, the nicotine content will drop sharply. Even eating 1000 kg of fresh tomatoes is only equivalent to smoking 1 cigarette. Therefore, eating raw tomatoes can not be compared with smoking at all, let alone eating raw tomatoes can cause cancer.

According to experts, the average annual consumption of tomatoes in China is only about 6.9 kilograms, so there is no need to worry about the nicotine content of tomatoes. In fact, a normal human body needs a small amount of nicotine every day, which can be supplemented by eating vegetables every day. Tomatoes are a good choice, and consumers can safely eat tomatoes.