Antioxidant Potentials of Skin, Pulp, and Seed Fractions of Commercially Important Tomato Cultivars

The rationale of this study is to compare the levels of different antioxidants present in commercially important tomato cultivars of India, specifically developed to grow in high altitude and plain regions. Major antioxidant components like lycopene, ascorbic acid, phenolics, and quenching capacity of free radicals were analysed in different fractions of tomato fruit, i.e., skin, pulp, and seed fractions. Significant differences in antioxidant components were observed among the fractions of the different cultivars studied. Lycopene content was found to be more in high altitude cultivars ('Sindhu' and 'Shalimar'); however, ascorbic acid and phenolic content were found to be higher in plain region cultivars ('PKM1' and 'CO3'). To evaluate the antioxidant capacity, 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and ferric reducing/antioxidant power (FRAP) assays were performed. High altitude cultivars showed 10-15% higher DPPH free radical scavenging activity and 20-30% increase in FRAP than the plain region cultivars. Among the different fruit fractions analysed, skin showed the highest level of antioxidants levels and free radical scavenging activities in all the cultivars tested. The difference in the antioxidants level and activity may be attributed to the genetic variability of the cultivars.