Tomatoes are the world’s most widely grown vegetable crop and are regarded as a protective food due to their high nutritional content and widespread production. Tomatoes are one of the most common vegetable crops grown as luscious fruits.
They are also grown in numerous colours, ranging from red, yellow, black, and pink to purple, white, brown, and orange. Of course, red is the most common variety worldwide.
Nutritional Value of Tomatoes
Tomatoes and tomato products are rich sources of folate, vitamin C, and potassium. Relative to phytonutrients, the most abundant in tomatoes are the carotenoids. Lycopene is the most prominent carotenoid followed by beta-carotene, gamma-carotene, and phytoene as well as several minor carotenoids. The antioxidant activity of lycopene, as well as several other carotenoids and their abundance in tomatoes, makes these foods rich sources of antioxidant activity.
Tomatoes also contain several other components that are beneficial to health, including vitamin E, trace elements, flavonoids, phytosterols, and several water-soluble vitamins. One surprising fact is that eating tomatoes in a cooked form is much healthier than raw tomatoes.
Tomatoes are high in lycopene, a plant component that gives tomatoes their lovely red colour. Aside from that, lycopene is a powerful antioxidant that has been shown to help prevent cancer. Studies have found that the content of lycopene increases when tomatoes are cooked as compared to raw tomatoes.
Why are cooked tomatoes BETTER?
The lycopene content of fresh tomatoes is 0.88-7.74 milligrams/100 grams, whereas tomato ketchup contains 9.9-13.4 milligrams of lycopene/100 grams. Water is lost when tomatoes are cooked or processed, which raises lycopene levels.
Lycopene is present in the bound form in tomatoes. When tomatoes are cooked, the bonds are opened, and lycopene is released from the bonds, thus, the bioavailability of lycopene increases. Hence, whenever you consume a cooked tomato, you benefit more because more lycopene becomes available to your body.
Lycopene is a lipid-soluble pigment. Aside from heating, adding fat to tomato products increases lycopene availability. In comparison to tomato salads and soups without oil, adding oil to tomato salads and soups improves lycopene entrance into the blood. In a fascinating study, it was shown that eating tomato salsa with avocado increased lycopene absorption by 4.4 times when compared to eating salsa without avocado. This is because the oil in avocado increases the availability and absorption of lycopene from tomatoes.
To get the most out of tomatoes, they should always be cooked fresh. However, improper processing and storage practices might result in lycopene loss. Cooked tomato products that are exposed to light and oxygen can damage the lycopene content, making and preserving the tomato product less appealing and unsuitable for ingestion.
To obtain your lycopene, cook your tomatoes. Combine it with meals that are naturally high in fat, such as avocado, or drizzle some olive oil over salads and soups.
Article by: Ravindu Ranathunga | Faculty of Agriculture
Leave a Reply