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Cultivar · Tomato cultivar

Roma

Also known as: Roma VF

Roma is a determinate plum (paste) tomato that originated as a mid-twentieth-century United States introduction and has since become a broad, widely grown type name for sauce tomatoes.

Dated referenceLast reviewed: 2026-07-12Updated: 2026-07-12
Illustrative diagram · AgricultureID (original)

Record

Cultivar / variety
Variety of
Tomato
Botanical taxon
Solanum lycopersicum
Type
Open-pollinated cultivar (now a broad plum-tomato type)
Breeding method
Open-pollinated
Origin
United States
Breeder / institution
United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)
Registry status
Historical
Registries
Adaptation
A warm-season determinate type widely grown in gardens and field production; adaptation depends on the specific strain and region.
Intended use
Processing and paste, Fresh culinary use

Registry listing or variety protection is jurisdiction- and date-specific and does not by itself indicate current commercial availability, universal cultivation approval, patent status, or a recommendation.

Roma is a plum, or paste, tomato with meaty, low-juice fruit that is popular for sauces, canning, and general cooking. The plants are determinate and compact, which historically made the type convenient for both home gardens and field production.

The original Roma is generally attributed to a United States Department of Agriculture breeding program and was introduced in the mid-1950s, later widely offered as "Roma VF". Over time, "Roma" has become a general name for many plum-tomato selections rather than a single, tightly defined variety.

Identity and type

Roma is characterized by small-to-medium, elongated plum fruit with dense flesh and comparatively little juice, on determinate plants that concentrate their crop. These features made it a standard paste tomato for both processing and kitchen use.

Parent crop
Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum)
Growth habit
Determinate
Breeding type
Open-pollinated
Intended use
Paste, sauce, canning, and general cooking

A cultivar that became a type

While Roma began as a specific introduction, the name is now applied to a wide range of plum-tomato selections and hybrids sold internationally. As a result, seed labelled "Roma" may correspond to the original open-pollinated line or to a newer, distinct strain.

Relationships

Evidence-backed connections in the knowledge graph.

Related topics

Scope & limitations

Geographic scope: Originating in the United States and now grown worldwide as a plum-tomato type; the name covers many distinct strains rather than one variety.

Climate context: Warm-season determinate paste tomato grown in gardens and field systems across many regions.

  • The Roma name is applied very broadly, so plants sold under it range from the original open-pollinated line to unrelated modern hybrids.
  • Because many strains share the name, specific fruit size, timing, and plant behaviour depend on the seed source and the growing environment.
  • A precise original release year is reported inconsistently across sources, so only the approximate mid-1950s introduction is stated here.

Sources

This article draws on the following authoritative sources. See our sources & methodology for how they are selected.

  1. [1]GRIN-Global / National Plant Germplasm System (opens in a new tab)

    USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS)

    Authoritative

    Cited for: Tomato germplasm and plum-type cultivar nomenclature (collection level)

    Type:
    Official registry
    Jurisdiction:
    United States / Global
    Accessed:
    2026-07-12
  2. [2]GBIF — Global Biodiversity Information Facility (opens in a new tab)

    Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)

    High

    Cited for: Taxonomic backbone for Solanum lycopersicum

    Type:
    Reference database
    Jurisdiction:
    Global
    Accessed:
    2026-07-12

Related topics

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