Price Hike: “Snake” Tomato As Alternative With Health Benefit

With Nigerians being staunch lovers and consumers of stew, tomatoes are a beloved staple central to making their cuisines.

However, the recent surge in the price of tomatoes in the country has forced many Nigerians to give up their favorite stew gourmet.

Report has it that the surge in tomato price was as a result of the invasion of “tomato Ebola” affecting farms in the North. With this development, many Nigerians are seeking alternatives that can be used to complement their meals.

Unknown to many, the commercialised vine tomato mostly used in making the paste is not the only tomato variety we have in Nigeria, there is another variety called the snake tomato.

Trichosanthes Cucumerina locally known as “Snake tomato” also called “elejo tomato” by the Yoruba people is a tomato variety growing mostly wild in Southwestern Nigeria. It is a vegetable that can be substituted for the popular vine tomato. It is mainly found in the states of Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Ekiti, Ondo, and Edo.READ: Why There’s Food Price Inflation In Osun – Traders

This tomato variety is long, probably why it is nicknamed snake tomato, bearing a semblance to cucumber. The ripe fruit is reddish in colour and tastes like tomatoes. It is super rich in vitamins A and C, essential amino acids, calcium among other nutrients than most regular tomatoes.

Snake tomato is used to prepare stews and is added to many local dishes, but is also used locally as a medicine, given its high concentration of vitamins.

Both the fruit and leaves have medicinal properties. Once ripe, you can wash the tomatoes, remove the seeds, blend them, and use them.

It used to be widely grown in the 60s and was very common in the local markets. But nowadays not many are familiar with this long veggie, especially younger generations. It has been left to grow in the wild with little attention to its benefits.

Snake tomato has numerous health benefits. Here are 7 out of its abundant benefits;

1. Jaundice: The leaves of snake tomato together with coriander seeds decoction are effective managers of jaundice. It can be used based on professional suggestions but based on research opinions, you can ingest 30-60gram doses of the leaves crushed along with coriander seeds three times daily.
2. Diabetes: Snake tomato is a low-calorie food, and it can be used by Type- lI-diabetic patients.
3. Heart Disorders: Juice obtained from fresh leaves of snake tomato is of great advantage in managing heart disorders like palpitation as well as pain within the heart on physical exercise.
4. Alopecia: The extract from the leaves is also very effective in the treatment of alopecia (a scalp illness that leads to partial or even complete hair loss). All you need to do is to constantly apply the extract to the affected area.
5. Purgative: The leaves, roots, and seeds of snake tomato help greatly in controlling bowel problems. It helps in getting rid of toxins in the body. It also helps in the digestion of food. The seeds are specifically great as a moistening agent in the treatment of dry constipation.
6. Dandruff: This is one of the most interesting uses of snake tomatoes. The juice of the fruit can be used in avoiding and treating severe cases of dandruff. For perfect results, just rub in the juice on your scalp like you’d do for your regular oil conditioner. Snake tomato juice leads to an increase in body fluid production, it serves as a moisturizer from within and also without. This kind gives the best result.
7. Low-Calorie Food: Snake tomato is a low-calorie food. It provides vital nutrients needed for both growth and repair of body tissues without adding fat to the body. If you’re planning on losing weight, you can so trust snake tomatoes as a sure vegetable you should include in your diet.

Now that you know quite a number of benefits snake tomato has, why not add it to the varieties of vegetables in your garden?