Curious Cook in the New York Times: Tomato leaves

In today's Curious Cook column I write about tomato leaves, which have an undeservedly toxic reputation. Like other members of the disreputable nightshade family, tomato plants do contain alkaloids, but the tomato alkaloid is poorly absorbed in the body and lowers LDL cholesterol levels. Tomato leaves have occasionally been used as a herb without any reported problems. Their flavor runs from viney to grassy to tea-like, depending on how they're handled.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/jf900364j

Friedman, M. et al. Protective effect of dietary tomatine against dibenzo[a,l]pyrene (DBP)-induced liver and stomach tumors in rainbow trout. Mol. Nutr. Food Res. 2007, 51: 1485 – 1491.
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Jeurissen, S.M.F. et al. Basil extract inhibits the sulfotransferase mediated formation of DNA adducts of the procarcinogen 1'-hydroxyestragole by rat and human liver S9 homogenates and in HepG2 human hepatoma cells. Food and Chemical Toxicology 2008, 46: 2296–2302. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.fct.2008.03.010