Tomatoes Taste Good And Are Healthy, Too

Did you know color makes no difference in the flavor or nutritional goodness of tomatoes? You may say your tastebuds tell a different story! In fact, researchers have shown that the mind or psychology play a major role in taste and selection of tomato varieties among home gardeners. Researchers also found the primary differences in taste of tomatoes has to do with the meatiness of a tomato, the concentration of seeds and gel or juiciness of a tomato. Sweetness and acidity is also in part a result of whether a tomato variety is meaty or juicy, as well as being influenced by the number of days to maturity. The longer a tomato has to mature on the vine, the higher the sugar content can be.

Some beefsteak varieties have long been grown for their meatiness, but some beefsteaks have more seeds and gel than others do. Many pink and yellow tomato varieties are meatier and have fewer seeds and less gel, giving them a milder taste. Plum and pear tomatoes, developed more than a century ago in Italy, have firm flesh with few seeds and gel, and cook down to a thick paste or sauce.

Tomato color depends on varying amounts of carotene pigments in their flesh and skin. Most tomatoes are high in lycopene, the pigment that makes tomatoes red. Tomatoes also have varying proportions of betacarotene, the yellow-orange pigment found in carrots and other orange vegetables. Red tomatoes can range in color from deep purple, fiery red to pink. And yellow tomatoes range from orange to lemon yellow and even white. Though pigment determines color, no variety is healthier for you than another.

 If a typical, medium-sized tomato carried the nutrition information required on packaged food labels, it would read as follows:

Servings per tomato: 1 Carbohydrate: 5.8 g

Calories: 27 Fat: 0.2 g

Protein: 1.4 g Sodium: 4 mg
 
 

Vitamin A: 1110 iu 20%*

Vitamin C: 28 mg 45%*

Thiamin: 0.07 mg 4% *

Riboflavin: 0.05 mg 2%*

Niacin: 0.9 mg 4%*

Calcium: 16 mg <2%*

Iron: 0.6 mg 4%*

Potassium: 300 mg

*U.S. recommended Daily Allowances (U.S. RDA)

(The Total Tomato, 1985, Fred DuBose)

Source: Mary Beth Musgrove, Extension Associate-Horticulture, Alabama Cooperative Extension System, (334) 844-5481