On Nov 12, 1:49 am, AndyS wrote:
On Nov 11, 8:30 pm, "Malcom \"Mal\" Reynolds"



I should have googled, but a cursory search shows that tomatos are okay in their
diet, but the plants are if not exactly poisonous, definitely not good for their
help.

My understanding is that the tomato plant is a member of the
nightshade family, which is poisonous ---- not the red fruit,
but the green stalk and leaves. I believe the poison is
called tomatin, and is present in the fruit until it turns red.
Some people are more sensitive to it than others. In the
past , tomatoes were called "witch apples" and were
thought to be poisonous themselved, probably due to
people eating the green leaves and stalks and assuming
the fruit was just as bad....
As far as cats, well, ....... there are garden bugs that eat
the leaves so I guess it isn't poisonous to everything...
Dogs are not supposed to eat tomatoes (the fruit), because
of the small amount of tomatin that remains......

Andy adds
If you use google with the string " tomatin tomato poison" you will
see numerous explanations regarding this poisonous alkaloid
substance..