I was talking to one of my university colleagues today and the subject of snuff arose. He told me that his late grandfather was an inveterate nasal snuff user, and, at the height of the Great Depression, had even ground his own snuff out of tomato leaves. I found this a fascinating idea, having never heard of such a thing. Tomato is of course a cousin of tobacco, both being members of the nightshade family. I do know that the widely held belief that tomato leaves are toxic is mainly an old wives tales, and I *have* heard of people smoking tomato leaves. How that would taste, I have no idea. What kind of nicotine hit it would have, I also have no idea. I imagine that the nicotine level in tomato leaves are much lower than the nicotine levels found in tobacco, but have been unable to find out just what exactly the relative nicotine content of tomato leaves actually are. So, has anyone here ever heard of tomato leaf snuff, or has actually tried smoking tomato leaves?
Iâm no longer interested in smoking anything, but I would be willing to try snuffing tomato leaves. I bet it canât smell or taste any worse than Taxi, right? Hey, maybe tomato leaf snuff can be the next Toque product. Iâd be first in line to buy it, especially if Roderick adds a bacon and lettuce flavor to the tomato leaf base.
Taken from the FoodNavigater.com " Then, in 1820, Colonel Robert Johnson defied the advice of his physicians (âYou will foam and froth at the mouth and double overâ) and ate tomatoes on the steps of Salem Courthouse, New Jersey, in front of a crowd of 2000 witnesses, the local sheriff waiting to arrest him for suicide. He survived and people began slowly to accept tomatoes as food" @kjoerup Interesting post you started. Other than finding that tomatoes and peppers contain Nic, I couldnât find an amount anywhere compared to tobacco. Iâll keep looking
I do recall a TV show discussing the relationship between tobacco and tomatoes. It was an episode of the Simpsons. Homer accidentally produces a hybrid of both plants and calls it âtomaccoâ People get the effects of nicotine by eating this fruit / vegetable. Of course the evil tobacco executives try to steal the plant from Homer. A must see I think, for all us tobacco enthusiasts.
lol I bet a tomato smoke wouldnât have to have a government warning on itâŚat firstâŚIâm laughing right now thinking about the anti-tobacco fiends pooping themselves over that⌠I also read somewhere that relatives of tobacco (like potatoes and eggplant and tomato and etc, you get the picture) all contain like 2 fewer âSuspected Carcinogensâ than the dreaded tobacco. Stuff that in yer pipe anti-tobacco guys.
@miamimark: Ha! I love that episode. Ralphie Wiggum: âDaddy, these tomatoes taste like Grandma!â
TOOMMAAACCCCOOOOOOOO!!! heheh but seriously Tomatine is an alkaloid that that âinterferes with cholinergic nerves and cause some serious gastrointestinal distress.â tomatoes arent posionos but the the leaves and vines are. i wouldnt use it for rologed use, but id probably try it, if somone esle did and didnât die or get any of these symptoms "Headache, abdominal pain, dilated pupils, vomiting, diarrhea, circulatory and respiratory depression, loss of sensation. " source - http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/consumer/poison/Lycopes.htm not so much an old wives tailâŚ
No thanks. Iâll stick with my banana peels ; /
Some tribes in Peru, where tomatoes grow wild, smoke and chew tomato leaves. They must like it. From what iâve heard, nicotine levels are pretty high.
Dried and ground and snuffed, it might be good.
Interesting. I wonder if the stems would have less nicotine or the vains and the differences. Suprising, I knew that they were both nightshade but I assumed the tomato plants had very little amounts of Nicotine. Interesting none the less. Let us know how it turns out.
Do we have any botanists on board at snuffhouse? All of the literature on nightshade leaves that I have found via Googling do note their high alkaloid content â and mention in passing that tobacco contains an even higher alkaloid content than the leaves of tomatoes, eggplant, potatoes, etc. All of these studies are concerned with the *eating* of tomato leaves, and of course no one ever thinks of ingesting tobacco leaves⌠I would surmise that if one were to eat tobacco leaves, weâd also be discussing âheadache, abdominal pain, dilated pupils, vomiting, diarrhea, circulatory and respiratory depression, loss of sensation.â See below. @Wolfwood: Now let us take a look at what that site says about tobacco: Poisonous Part: All parts. Symptoms: Vomiting, diarrhea, slow pulse, dizziness, collapse, and respiratory failure. Toxic Principle: Nicotine and other alkaloids. Severity: HIGHLY TOXIC, MAY BE FATAL IF EATEN! http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/consumer/poison/Nicotta.htm By way of comparison, that sounds so much worse than the Severity: TOXIC ONLY IF LARGE QUANTITIES EATEN concerning tomatoes, no? 
@matsnuffs: It really would be hilarious and surreal if tomato leaves did somehow catch on as a tobacco substitute. Imagine the anti-tobacco loonies falling about themselves over that! How would they ban tomato plants? Will tomatoes be kept behind the counter, having a 2000% tax increase? Vine ripened tomatoes in the supermarket even have leaves on them! âWonât someone PLEASE think of the children!!!â I was at my local health food store today. Out of curiosity I took a look at the vitamin/supplement section to see if there was anything made from tomato leaves. I did see a rather expensive âtomato leaf facial maskâ imported from Italy. Apparently, it will give you the appearance of eternal youth and a ârefreshing feeling of calmness.â I might have even bought it, but it seemed WAY overpriced. Ha! I can imagine flavored herbal ânasal therapyâ made of, oh, ground tomato leaves â âtomato being among the worldâs most cherished and wholesome of foods!â â sitting right next to the St. Johnâs Wort and the even more dubious herbal supplements. A mentholated one could be sold as the perfect organic winter cold treatment. Hey! Give the product an appropriately cuddly New Age name, Ă la âAuntie Lilithâs Organic Scented Botanical Elixirâ and youâre good to go. I suppose these could also be classified as âaroma therapyâ products⌠Wouldnât that be a laugh?
Not me, but be careful what you do. In my days of pipe smoking a ran out of tobacco, found some dried up cactus leaves at the bottom of my mothers plants. Stuck 'em in my pipe and went on a long trip.
@snuffhead wonder what kindof cactus⌠san pedro has some high mescaline content, but i alwys ssumed thatâd get destroyed in the burn⌠innnterrresstiing. @kjoerep - hmmmm yeah, that is true, that was mainly talkinga bout eating the stuff. snuffhea has inspired me im gonna go colelct some tomato leaves and give this a shot. ill smoke some first, and if i get anyhting good ill formulate a snuff. and ill get back to yaâll Pray for me!!
The only fair and honorable thing for me to do is join Wolfwood on this fantastic voyage. I just happen to have several large tomato plants outside my door, and earlier this afternoon I harvested a good amount of leaves from each one. I am going to allow them to air dry for a spell, then will grind them up with a mortar and pestle. As I have various types of tomato plants, I am going to make various snuffs out of each respective leaf variety: Beefsteak, Brandywine and Cherokee Purple. Iâll report back with the results. For the hell of it, Iâm even going to make a snus from these leaves. Just for fun.
@ kjoerup- Donât forget to add some Bicarbonate of Soda and to use your eye snuffing techniques. You could even try my patented âSnuff Spikeâ method. Before you do any of this though, let everyone know where to send the flowersâŚ
i like it. i ahve to admit the flavour leaves a bit to be sidesred, but i thinkt hat this has some potential as an ingredient in an herbal smoking blend. im working one up. got an order in to one of my favourite herb sites, and will see what i can do about getting a recipe going.
Iâm still letting my leaves dry out. So did you detect any nicotine in it?
You notice, after snuffing tomato leaves Wolfwood is spelling dislexicly ( is that a word?). Could be the tomato leaves are affecting his coordination.
nah thatâs the pills weâve been sliping into his vitamins. Kind of like instant coffee ads from years ago except instead of folgers or something wit h your regular coffee itâs thorzine replacing your vitamins and weâre only doing it to wolfwood and oh there are no hidden cameras.