tomatine

English

Structure diagram of α-tomatine

Etymology

From tomato +‎ -ine.

Noun

tomatine (countable and uncountable, plural tomatines)

1. (organic chemistry) A toxic glycoalkaloid with fungicidal properties, found in the stems and leaves of tomato plants.
   • 1988, M. K. Dasgupta, chapter 0, in Principles of Plant Pathology‎^[1], page 263:

     Some of these, such as α-chaconines and α-tomatines, are generally antiparasitic (general prohibitions; see also sections 3.231, 3.2333, 8.4213).

   • 2001, R. Barkai-Golan, Postharvest Diseases of Fruits and Vegetables: Development and Control‎^[2], page 71:

     However, because of the marked antifungal activity of tomatine and other saponins, these preformed compounds are believed to be involved in host resistance towards saponin-sensitive fungi.

   • 2006, John R. Stommel, 6: Genetic Enhancement of Tomato Fruit Nutritive Value, Maharaj K. Razdan, Autar K. Mattoo (editors), Genetic Improvement of Solanaceous Crops, Volume 2: Tomato, page 208,

     Tomato accumulates the glycoalkaloids a-tomatine and dehydrotomatine in a 10 : 1 ratio (Madhavi and Salunkhe 1998).

   • 2012, Cheryll Williams, Medicinal Plants in Australia, Volume 3: Plants, Potions and Poisons, page 156,

     In addition, the level of tomatine in transgenic tomatoes (190–280 mg/100 g fresh weight) was increased substantially from that of the parent (35 mg/100 g) and the standard transgenic tomato (12 mg/100 g).

Derived terms

• tomatinase

Translations

toxic glycoalkaloid found in tomato plants

• Portuguese: tomatina f

Anagrams

• at no time, mitotane