''Solanum pimpinellifolium'', commonly known as the currant tomato or pimp, is a wild species of

tomato The tomato is the edible berry of the plant ''Solanum lycopersicum'', commonly known as the tomato plant. The species originated in western South America, Mexico, and Central America. The Mexican Nahuatl word gave rise to the Spanish word ...

native to

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ' ...

and

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = National seal , national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...

but naturalized elsewhere, such as the

Galápagos Islands The Galápagos Islands (Spanish: , , ) are an archipelago of volcanic islands. They are distributed on each side of the equator in the Pacific Ocean, surrounding the centre of the Western Hemisphere, and are part of the Republic of Ecuador ...

. Its small

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particu ...

s are edible, and it is commonly grown in gardens as an

heirloom In popular usage, an heirloom is something that has been passed down for generations through family members. Examples are a Family Bible, antiques, weapons or jewellery. The term originated with the historical principle of an heirloom in En ...

tomato, although it is considered to be wild rather than domesticated as is the commonly cultivated tomato species ''Solanum lycopersicum''. Its

genome In the fields of molecular biology and genetics, a genome is all the genetic information of an organism. It consists of nucleotide sequences of DNA (or RNA in RNA viruses). The nuclear genome includes protein-coding genes and non-coding g ...

was sequenced in 2012. Tomato flowers yellow currant

Breeding purposes

It will hybridize with common domestic tomatoes. There are

annual Annual may refer to: *Annual publication, periodical publications appearing regularly once per year ** Yearbook ** Literary annual *Annual plant *Annual report *Annual giving *Annual, Morocco, a settlement in northeastern Morocco *Annuals (band), ...

biennial Biennial means (an event) lasting for two years or occurring every two years. The related term biennium is used in reference to a period of two years. In particular, it can refer to: * Biennial plant, a plant which blooms in its second year and th ...

, and

perennial A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wid ...

varieties.http://www.nhm.ac.uk/research-curation/research/projects/solanaceaesource/taxonomy/description-detail.jsp?spnumber=4614, Natural History Museum, Solanaceae Source, Solanum pimpinellifolium L., Cent. Pl. 1: 8. 1755. Type: Cultivated in Uppsala, Anon. (lectotype, LINN 248.15 H neg. 6802 designated by Knapp & Jarvis 1990), Retrieved January 28, 2011. ''Solanum pimpinellifolium'' is important in tomato breeding. Its relatedness to tomatoes and ability to freely cross with them has allowed it to be used for the introduction of disease resistance traits in tomato varieties, as well as in the study of the genetic control of tomato traits such as fruit shape and size. It has higher amounts of

lycopene Lycopene is an organic compound classified as a tetraterpene and a carotene. Lycopene (from the neo-Latin '' Lycopersicum'', the tomato species) is a bright red carotenoid hydrocarbon found in tomatoes and other red fruits and vegetables. Occu ...

vitamin C Vitamin C (also known as ascorbic acid and ascorbate) is a water-soluble vitamin found in citrus and other fruits and vegetables, also sold as a dietary supplement and as a topical 'serum' ingredient to treat melasma (dark pigment spots) ...

, and

phenolic acids Phenolic acids or phenolcarboxylic acids are types of aromatic acid compounds. Included in that class are substances containing a phenolic ring and an organic carboxylic acid function (C6-C1 skeleton). Two important naturally occurring types of ...

, as well as a higher antioxidant capacity than ''Solanum lycopersicum''. Its 900 Mb genome differs from the tomato at 0.6% of base pairs; in comparison, they both differ from the

potato The potato is a starchy food, a tuber of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'' and is a root vegetable native to the Americas. The plant is a perennial in the nightshade family Solanaceae. Wild potato species can be found from the southern Unit ...

(from which they diverged 7.3 million years ago) at 8% of bases. Considered the ancestor of domesticated tomatoes, it is valued for supplementing the limited gene pool of the domestic tomato. Due to agricultural development, the wild currant tomato is becoming less prevalent in the

native range Species distribution —or species dispersion — is the manner in which a biological taxon is spatially arranged. The geographic limits of a particular taxon's distribution is its range, often represented as shaded areas on a map. Patterns of ...

of northern Peru and southern Ecuador. In addition, seed collection is hampered by issues with the

Convention on Biological Diversity The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), known informally as the Biodiversity Convention, is a multilateral treaty. The Convention has three main goals: the conservation of biological diversity (or biodiversity); the sustainable use of its ...

References

pimpinellifolium Plants described in 1755 Edible Solanaceae Flora of Ecuador Fruit vegetables Tomatoes Tropical fruit Crops originating from Ecuador Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus {{Solanales-stub