Tomatoes are the second most consumed vegetable in the United States. In 2017, American people consumed 9.2 kg of tomatoes from a fresh market and 33.2 kg of processed tomato products per capita. One commonly asked question by consumers and the nutrition community is "Are processed tomato products as nutritious as fresh tomatoes?" This review addresses this question by summarizing the current understandings on the effects of industrial processing on the nutrients and bioactive compounds of tomatoes. Twelve original research papers were found to study the effects of different industrial processing methods on the nutrients and/or bioactive compounds in tomato products. The data suggested that different processing methods had different effects on different compounds in tomatoes. However, currently available data are still limited, and the existing data are often inconsistent. The USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference Legacy was utilized to estimate nutrient contents from raw tomatoes and processed tomato products. In addition, several other important factors specifically related to the industrial processing of tomatoes were also discussed. To conclude, there is no simple "yes" or "no" answer to the question "Are processed tomato products as nutritious as fresh tomatoes?" Many factors must be considered when comparing the nutritious value between fresh tomatoes and processed tomato products. At this point, we do not have sufficient data to fully understand all of the factors and their impacts.
Keywords: bioactive compounds; industrial processing; nutrient; tomato product; tomatoes.
Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Society for Nutrition 2021.