''Solanum pimpinellifolium'', commonly known as the currant tomato or pimp, is a wild species of tomato native to Ecuador and Peru but

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elsewhere, such as the Galápagos Islands. Its small fruits are edible, and it is commonly grown in gardens as an heirloom tomato, although it is considered to be wild rather than domesticated as is the commonly cultivated tomato species ''Solanum lycopersicum''. Its genome was sequenced in 2012. Tomato flowers yellow currant

Breeding purposes

It will hybridize with common domestic tomatoes. There are annual, biennial, and perennial 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, vitamin C, and phenolic acids, as well as a higher

antioxidant Antioxidants are compounds that inhibit oxidation, a chemical reaction that can produce free radicals. This can lead to polymerization and other chain reactions. They are frequently added to industrial products, such as fuels and lubricant ...

capacity than ''Solanum lycopersicum''. Its 900 Mb genome differs from the tomato at 0.6% of

base pair A base pair (bp) is a fundamental unit of double-stranded nucleic acids consisting of two nucleobases bound to each other by hydrogen bonds. They form the building blocks of the DNA double helix and contribute to the folded structure of both DNA ...

s; in comparison, they both differ from the potato (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 The gene pool is the set of all genes, or genetic information, in any population, usually of a particular species. Description A large gene pool indicates extensive genetic diversity, which is associated with robust populations that can surv ...

of the domestic tomato. Due to agricultural development, the wild currant tomato is becoming less prevalent in the native range of northern Peru and southern Ecuador. In addition, seed collection is hampered by issues with the Convention on Biological Diversity.

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