Tomatine, chlorophyll, β-carotene and lycopene content in tomatoes during growth and maturation

Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) plants synthesise nutrients, pigments and secondary metabolites. These include the green pigment chlorophyll, the yellow pigment beta-carotene, the red pigment lycopene and the colourless glycoalkaloid. alpha-tomatine. The levels of these compounds are strongly influenced by the maturity of the tomatoes. Widely consumed Japanese tomato varieties Momotaro, Momotaro-T93 and First Memory at five different stages of ripeness, each harvested at 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 days after flowering of the plants, were analysed for the contents of these compounds. Additionally, tomato clusters from different locations along the vine on the same plant were also evaluated. The results show that chlorophyll and tomatine concentrations decrease rapidly during the growth of the tomatoes. By contrast, beta-carotene and lycopene levels are low in immature and high in mature tomatoes. The location of the tomato clusters and tomato variety did not significantly affect these results. The possible usefulness of these results to optimise health-promoting effects of tomatoes is discussed. (C) 2003 Society of Chemical Industry.