Tomato plant with ripe fruit; photo by Ajith Kumar on Flickr (use permitted with attribution).
Official State Fruit of Ohio
Ohio designated tomato (Lycopersicon esculentus) as the official state fruit of Ohio in 2009 (pawpaw was designated the official native fruit). Tomato juice has been the official state beverage of Ohio since 1965. All State Foods & Beverages
A.W. Livingston, of Reynoldsburg, Ohio played a large part in popularizing the tomato in the late 1800s by developing larger, sweeter varieties of tomato. Ohio is the third-largest producer of tomatoes in the United States, harvesting over 6,000 acres of tomatoes annually.