In the U.S., tomatoes are only exceeded by potatoes in economic importance. Among fresh vegetable products, annual per capita consumption of fresh tomatoes is only exceeded by lettuce and potatoes. Consumption of fresh tomatoes has remained fairly constant at around 12.8 pounds for the past 10 years as compared to the consumption of processed tomatoes in the form of ketchup and sauces which has...

We synthetically applied computer vision, genetic algorithm and artificial neural network technology to automatically identify the tomatoes that had physiological diseases. Firstly, the tomatoes’ images were captured through a computer vision system. Then to identify cavernous tomatoes, we analyzed the roundness and detected deformed tomatoes by applying the variation of fruit’s diameter. Secon...

Lycopene is the main carotenoid in tomatoes and it has been hypothesised to be responsible for reducing the risk of some cancers and heart disease. The cooking of tomatoes with olive oil is a characteristic combination in the Southern Mediterranean diet. Previous studies have shown that the absorption of lycopene is greater from processed tomatoes than fresh tomatoes, since the processing break...

In recent years, multiple outbreaks of Salmonella infection have been associated with fresh tomatoes. Investigations have indicated that tomato contamination likely occurred early in the farm-to-consumer chain, although tomato consumption occurred mostly in restaurants. Researchers have hypothesized that tomato handling practices in restaurants may contribute to these outbreaks. However, few em...

Tomatoes and tomato products are rich sources of carotenoids-principally lycopene, followed by β-carotene and lutein. The aim of this work was to study the effect of heat treatment on carotenoid content in cherry tomatoes. Raw and canned products were sampled and analysed; furthermore whole, skin and pulp fractions of cherry tomatoes were analysed when raw and home-processed, in order to better...

Presence of phytochrome in two kinds of tomatoes (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.), the yellow lutescent strain and cherry tomatoes (L. esculentum Mill. var. cerasiformecv. Red Cherry), was established by measuring the absorption difference spectra of the whole fruit after irradiation with red and with far red light. Phytochrome content was determined in yellow lutescent tomatoes and decreased gr...

Due to the randomicity of the natural growth of tomatoes in greenhouses and different storage days for market needs, it is difficult to find appropriate methodologies for certain ripe-tomato-harvesting robot systems. This paper proposes a novel approach for recognizing ripe tomatoes from the natural background in greenhouses and extracting abscission points after color segmentation for autonomo...

BACKGROUND During harvest and transportation, processing tomatoes are exposed to elevated temperatures, compression and vibration in the harvester and truck, making them prone to bruising. The objective of this study was to determine how bruising and exposure to high temperatures affect pectin methylesterase (PME) activation and the textural quality of tomato juice. RESULTS Tomatoes were both...

A nondestructive optical method for determining the soluble solids content of fresh whole tomatoes was investigated. The method, based upon near infrared spectrophotometric techniques, could predict the soluble solids content of tomatoes (r 5 0.92, SEC 5 0.277Brix). Tomatoes from more than 30 popular fresh market cultivars at stages of maturity from mature green to ripe red fruit were studied.

Peralta, 1.E. & D. M. Spooner. 2000. Classification of wild tomatoes: a review. Kurtziana 28 (I): 45-54. .. Wild tomatoes are native to western South America. The generic status of wild tomatoes within the Solanaceae has been controversial since the eighteen century. Linnaeus in 1753 placed tomatoes in Solanum while Miller, a contemporary ofLinnaeus, classified tomatoes in a new genus Lycopersi...