Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
The health benefits of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) are unquestionable. It is a key component of the Mediterranean diet rich in vitamins and antioxidants able to protect against degenerative diseases associated to oxidative stress and inflammation.1 Today, there is a large number of tomato cultivars and varieties with a wide range of morphological and sensorial characteristics. In Trás-os-Montes, Northeastern Portugal, local populations still prefer to consume tomato farmer’s varieties for their distinctive taste and health-promoting effects, as they are grown using extensive farming techniques.2 Therefore, this study was carried out to characterize the nutritional composition and in vitro antioxidant activity of two tomato farmer’s varieties known as 'round' and 'yellow', which are shown in Figure 1. The analyzed components included proximate constituents (protein, fat, and ash, which were determined by official methods of food analysis, and carbohydrates were calculated by difference), free sugars (quantified by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with refractive index detection), fatty acids (analyzed by gas chromatography coupled to flame ionization detection), lipophilic antioxidants (carotenoids and tocopherols, determined by a spectrophotometric method and HPLC-fluorescence detection, respectively), and hydrophilic antioxidants (vitamin C was quantified by redox titration with 2,6-dichloroindophenol and phenolic compounds were characterized by HPLC with photodiode-array detection and mass spectrometry (HPLC-DAD-ESI/MS). In addition, tomato methanolic extracts were screened in vitro for their reducing power, DPPH radical scavenging activity, β-carotene bleaching inhibition capacity, and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances formation inhibition capacity. The 'yellow' tomato variety revealed an interesting nutritional composition, characterized by higher levels of fructose, glucose, α-linolenic acid, and tocopherols. In turn, the so-called 'round' tomato contained higher amounts of lycopene, β-carotene, and phenolic compounds and proved to be the most powerful in antioxidant activity.2,3 A cis p-coumaric acid derivative was identified as the most abundant phenolic compound in both fruit, while quercetin pentosylrutinoside was the major flavonoid.3 Overall, both tomato farmer’s varieties proved to be rich in nutrients and health-promoting compounds.
Description
Keywords
Red tomato Yellow tomato Research Subject Categories::TECHNOLOGY::Chemical engineering::Food technology
Pedagogical Context
Citation
Añibarro-Ortega, Mikel; Pinela, José; Barros, Lillian; Carvalho, Ana Maria; Ferreira, Isabel C.F.R. (2022). Red tomato vs. yellow tomato: which is healthier? A comparative study of nutritional and antioxidant traits of tomato farmer’s varieties. In XVI Encontro de Química dos Alimentos - Bio-Sustentabilidade e Bio-Segurança Alimentar, Inovação e Qualidade Alimentar: Livro de Resumos. Castelo Branco
Publisher
Sociedade Portuguesa de Química