Tomato, also known as tomato or persimmon, is a panicum miliaceum of Solanaceae. Bright color, beautiful appearance, sweet and sour taste, rich nutrition, can be eaten raw as fruit, can also be used as ingredients to cook delicacies, can be called the fruit of vegetables.

Tomatoes are rich in nutrition, which has been unanimously recognized by nutritionists. According to the analysis, every100g of tomato contains 2.2g of sugar, 8mg of calcium, 37mg of phosphorus, 0.4mg of iron, 0.3mg of carotene and 0.6mg of nicotinic acid, as well as other organic acids such as vitamin B 1, B2, C, malic acid and citric acid, especially vitamin P, which is a component of human dehydrogenase and participates in the redox process of the body. It contains vitamin C and will not be destroyed by cooking. If you eat three or five tomatoes (about 300 grams) every day, it is enough to supply vitamins and inorganic salts to the human body.

Tomatoes are not only delicious fruits and vegetables, but also a good medicine. Modern physiological and biological research shows that the amount of vitamin C obtained by human body is the decisive factor to control and improve the anti-cancer ability of human body. The demand of cancer patients for vitamin C has increased significantly, so tomatoes are the first choice for disease prevention and resistance. Moreover, organic acids such as malic acid and citric acid contained in tomatoes can protect vitamin C from being destroyed by cooking, increase the acidity of gastric juice and help digestion. The function of regulating gastrointestinal function. Tomatoes can also reduce the content of cholesterol in the blood, and have the effects of slowly lowering blood pressure, diuresis and detumescence, so they also have a good auxiliary treatment effect on patients with hypertension. In addition, tomatoes can also produce saliva to quench thirst. In summer, when people lose appetite, they often drink tomato juice or add it to soup as an ingredient, which can relieve summer heat, stimulate appetite and help digestion.

Medical research has confirmed that these functions of tomatoes are derived from lycopene contained in them. Lycopene is a fat-soluble unsaturated hydrocarbon, a carotenoid, which is red, does not show the physiological activity of vitamin A, and is sensitive to oxidation reaction. After 12 hours of sunlight exposure, lycopene was basically lost.

Therefore, when storing or cooking, we should try to avoid light and contact with iron and copper ions.