by Julie Christensen
Tomatoesare grade as Americans ’ third preferred veggie ( after tater and lettuce ) and most of the tomatoes we consume are in the form of cook tomato products , such as tomato ketchup , tomato paste , marinara sauce and salsa .
Roma tomatoes , also known as Italian or plum tree tomatoes , are most commonly used in cooked tomato plant products . These ellipse ruby or yellow-bellied tomatoes have less juice and source than slicing tomato plant , and thick , meaty flesh . They cook down to a thick , savory sauce , making them the idealistic tomato plant for processing .
Best of all , Roma tomatoes pack a powerful nutritionary punch . At only 37 small calorie per cup , Rome tomatoes are excellent seed of vitamin one C ( 34.38 milligram ) , vitamin A ( 1121.40 IU ) and vitamin K ( 14.22 mcg ) . In late days , scientists have discovered legion benefits from eat on Roma tomatoes . love apple products contain lycopene , a phytochemical known to suppress many cancer and meliorate heart and soul wellness . Read on to learn more about the benefit of eat on Roma tomatoes .
Nutritional Benefits of Roma Tomatoes
Cancer Protection . When researchers from Ben - Gurion University of the Negev in Beer - Sheva , Israel , incubated cancer jail cell with lycopene , the phytochemical produce cancer - fighting enzyme within the cell . Numerous studies have constitute that a diet high in tomato Cartesian product can aid protect against breast , colorectal , prostrate , lung and pancreatic cancer . Patients already diagnosed with cancer also benefit from a dieting high in tomato products . Researchers have line up that taking a lycopene supplement does n’t put up the same benefits . Compounds within tomato plant plausibly act upon synergistically to advance maximum wellness .
Anti - incendiary . leave alone your cycle out in the rain and it becomes corrode by the combining of moisture and atomic number 8 . In your physical structure , a like process , known as oxidation , come as complimentary radicals lash out and scavenge cubicle . Inflammation is your body ’s reception to free radicals , but chronic inflammation can go to chronic disease , including cardiovascular disease , Alzheimer ’s disease , osteoporosis and cancer . Antioxidant intensify in tomato product reduce oxidization and can lower markers of firing in your body , agree to a study publish in theJournal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry . consume one glass of tomato juice day by day can lower kindling markers by 35 percent in just one calendar month .
Heart Health . tomato are rich in K , niacin , folate and vitamin B6 , all nutrients necessary for good kernel wellness . legion study have found that diet full-bodied in Lycopersicon esculentum products can get down blood insistency and cholesterol , and improve heart wellness . One study at Brigham and Women ’s Hospital in Boston follow participants for seven years . Those who consumed tomato ware 7 to 10 clip per workweek had a 29 percent reduce danger of heart disease over those who did not regularly eat Lycopersicon esculentum ware .
Choosing Tomato Products
Forget Gallic tike slathered in ketchup or the greasy pizza . or else , corrode Roma tomato ware with a number of European olive tree oil or veridical butter . Lycopene is a fertile - soluble compound , meaning that the eubstance absorbs it best through fat . Researchers have found that add together a footling oil to a tomato plant - found meal increase nutrient soaking up .
Additionally , researchers at the USDA Agricultural Research Service found that saturnine ruddy , constituent tomato products had the highest sum of lycopene . One organic ketchup arrest 183 micrograms of lycopene per gm of ketchup . A democratic ketchup found at fast food restaurants contained only 60 microgram per gram . Not only do organic tomato production contain the most nutrient , but they ’re also free of pesticide and high - fructose corn sirup .
Using Roma Tomatoes
Buy Roma tomatoes when they ’re in season or grow your own . Roma Lycopersicon esculentum are determinate , meaning they stay reasonably compact and bring forth a predictable volume of tomato within a few short hebdomad . Many Roma tomato plant variety are disease resistant , making them among the simplest tomatoes to grow .
Roma tomatoes are easy to cook with . slash sportsmanlike tomato in a pot of simmering water for a few seconds . Their skins will slip off well . Then dice them and place them in a stadium or mound . Refrigerate them overnight . The juice will rise to the top and you could drain it off for a meatier product . Puree tomato plant and cook with Piper nigrum , onion and chiles to make zesty salsas or combine them with Allium sativum and St. Basil for marinara sauce . Toss peeled , chopped Roma tomatoes in a slow cooker and fake for up to 8 60 minutes . The tomatoes will fudge down to a plenteous paste . If you ’ve convey a bumper crop of Roma love apple , preserve them for yr - round use . Freeze Roma tomato plant merchandise in moldable bags or can them in a water system bath canner .
Although Roma tomato are most often used cooked , you could eat Roma tomatoes sweet in salsas , salads or sandwiches . cast out them with sweet basil , fresh mozzarella cheeseflower and Olea europaea vegetable oil and serve over crusty bread or with pasta . Add them to a broccoli salad with pine junkie or rust them unmingled with a drizzle of oil and black capsicum pepper plant .
you’re able to also freshen up canned intersection by adding some Roma tomatoes — summate chopped tomato plant to soups , boggy joes and fret . Just a few spoonfuls of tomato paste gives a rich , savory discernment to many cooked dishes . For good taste and good health , add more Roma tomatoes to your dieting .
For Further Reading :
Julie Christensen learned about gardening on her grandfather ’s farm and female parent ’s vegetable garden in southern Idaho . Today , she lives and gardens on the high plains of Colorado . When she ’s not digging in the dirt , Julie writes about food , education , parenting and gardening .
