A ‘grossed out’ shopper was horrified when they sliced open a fresh tomato, only to find it full of ‘worms’ – but after they made an observation, they realised the apparent creepy crawlies were not what they seemed
A shopper was left ‘super grossed out’ after cutting into a tomato to find it was full of ‘worms’.
However, upon closer inspection, they realised all was not as it seemed. Taking to Reddit, the health food enthusiast revealed they learned what the strange addition to their tomato was when they realised the worms ‘weren’t moving’.
The bemused social media fan posted a snap of the unusual-looking fruit, which had some rather unappetising-looking white objects emerging from the seeds. They captioned the post: “I cut into this tomato and thought it was full of worms. But it’s actually sprouts!
“I was super grossed out until I realized the ‘worms’ weren’t moving lol. Weird, I’m 68 and have never seen this before.”
People were quick to comment on the discovery and had some ingenious ideas as to what the veg-lover could do with their sprouting plants. One person wrote: “You know, if you plant all of those and sell them for a dollar each you can become a millionaire?”
Another agreed: “I read that all you need is a patio and a million tomatoes and you’re set for life.” Meanwhile a third added you could actually eat the sprouts. They wrote: “Most people I know think these are weird and gross, but I say you lucked out! Tomato sprouts are delicious!”
A fourth, who clearly knows their way around a tomato, explained why the original poster might never have seen this phenomenon before. They explained: “It’s a genetic mutation that appears in some fruits. Most fruits have an enzyme in them that prevents the seeds from spouting while inside the fruit.
“Generally the seeds need to be removed from the fruit or it has to rot, the enzyme breaks down at that point, triggering the seeds to spout if the right conditions are present
“On occasion a plant will development a mutation and it lacks the gene to produce this enzyme in the fruits. And this is the result!”
“Wow, thank you for that info!” replied the poster.
