Why this tomato mutated on a South Okanagan kitchen counter

Summerland resident Shannon White was shocked to see a tomato growing sprouts from the inside out after it sat in a basket on her counter for a little more than a week.

The tomato, which was purchased at a local grocery store, appears to have white, worm-like shoots pushing out of its skin.

“I’ve never seen it before, it’s very interesting,” White said in a message to iNFOnews.ca. “Apparently it’s a relatively rare but natural phenomenon called vivipary.”

Vivipary is a word meaning “live birth” in Latin, and happens when seeds germinate prematurely while still inside a parent plant or fruit, according to Gardening Know How.

While the interesting natural phenomenon happens on corn, pears and citrus fruits, it most commonly occurs in tomatoes or peppers from a grocery store which have been left sitting on the counter in warm temperatures.

Plant seeds have hormones that keep their germination processes at bay until growing conditions are favourable, but sometimes the hormones run out or can be triggered to germinate early when it’s warm.

Regardless of the strange appearance it creates, it doesn’t affect the quality of the fruit and the new sprouts can be planted to grow more tomato plants.

“The sprouts are still growing, I’m going to plant them,” White said.