Lycopene, the carotenoid plant protein that produces redness in tomatoes, is abundant in tomato sauces used in pasta dishes. But redness appears to be only one of its effects.

Lyocopene is one of the tens of thousands of phytochemicals found in fruits and vegetables that may play a significant role in preventing diseases such as cancer and heart diseases.

Through the years, scientists have consistently detected concentrations of lycopene in the prostate gland. This left many wondering: Is it possible lycopene regulates cell growth and protects prostate tissue from the damaging effects of free radicals, believed to be a major contributor to cancer?

Most researchers now believe the answer to that question is a firm, unequivocal "yes."

"They (researchers) started looking at human population groups that consumed a lot of tomatoes and tomato-derived products," says Dr. Robert Keith, an Alabama Cooperative Extension System nutritionist and Auburn University professor of nutrition and foods. "What they found was a lower incidence of prostate cancer within cultures that consumed large amounts of these products."

More recently, researchers have discovered that lycopene-rich diets may even benefit individuals with full-blown prostate cancer.

A study of 32 prostate cancer patients, mostly black men, revealed that they derived huge benefits from consuming a pasta meal a day for three weeks. Each meal was covered with three-fourths cup of tomato sauce.

Results showed prostate specific antigen (PSA) levels among the patients had dropped two points. Even signs of DNA tissue damage dropped sharply.

"The idea that you could lower these markers in just three weeks is pretty interesting, especially considering that the researchers were using only normal amounts of tomato sauce with these dishes," Keith says.

In fact, as a safeguard against prostate cancer, tomato sauce and related products appear to be a better bet than raw tomatoes, because their composition better ensures that the lycopene is absorbed into the body in a more concentrated form.

Researchers at Heine University in Dusseldorf believe the mashing of tomatoes that occurs in the making of sauce and paste probably liberates more lycopene, which can then be dissolved in fats such as vegetable oil – a crucial step that aids its absorption into the body.

Heating also appears to contribute to absorption, researchers say, producing the same liberating effect as mashing. But again, unless the lycopene is combined with vegetable oil or some other fat, it is not as readily absorbed into the body.

This explains why tomato juice, which contains about 50 percent more lycopene than an equivalent weight portion of tomato paste, is a poor contributor to blood concentration of the carotenoid.

Unlike most carotenoids, lycopene is not readily available in vegetables other than tomatoes. Pink grapefruit, fresh papaya, raw guava and watermelon all contain traces of the nutrient. That also holds true for dried apricots and pureed rosehips.

Still, the challenge remains of obtaining high enough blood concentrations of lycopene to ensure an adequate safeguard against prostate cancer. And, as researchers have argued, who wants to eat watermelon with vegetable oil?

So for men, the best bet remains tomato sauce or paste, usually served with dishes such as pasta, Keith says.

Ketchup, traditionally dismissed as nothing more than a condiment for hot dogs and hamburgers, also appears to be a good source of lycopene.

"It all goes back to the theme that you simply can’t rely on supplements to ensure you get the same safeguards normally derived from eating a wide variety of fruits and vegetables," Keith says.

Scientists have known for a long time that dietary factors may have a powerful influence on one’s risk of developing certain forms of cancer.

Diets high in meat and dairy products, for example, are believed to contribute to a higher risk of prostate cancer, while diets low in these products but high in fruits and vegetables, such as tomato products, appear to provide a safeguard against the disease.