Tropical and subtropical vegetables (2+1)

Economic importance and use

• Tomato is producing a very good source of income to small and marginal farmers and contributes nutrition to the consumers. Tomato is a rich source of minerals, vitamins and organic acid. There are various types of flavouring compounds found in fruits, which enrich the taste.
• The total sugar content is 2.5 % in ripe fruit and amount of ascorbic acid varies from 16 to 65 mg/100 g of fruit weight. 100 g of edible portion of tomato contains 94.1 g of water, 1.0 g of protein, 0.3 g of fat, 4.0 g of carbohydrates, 0.6 g of fibre, vitamin A (1100 I.U), vitamin B (0.20 mg), vitamin C(23 mg), malic acid (150 mg), citric acid (390 mg), oxalic acid (3.5 mg), potassium (268 mg), and phosphorus (27 mg )
• Several processed items like paste, puree, syrup, juice, ketchup, drinks etc are prepared on large scale. Some times, it is called poor man’s orange. Tomato is very good appetizer and its soup is said to be a good remedy for patients suffering from constipation. It is used for treating chronic dyspepsia, bronchitis, asthma and also used as a blood purifier. Three flesh colours in tomato namely red (lycopene pigment), yellow (carotenoid) and tangerine (prolycopene) were found.