Nutritional Composition and Bioactive Compounds in Tomatoes and Their Impact on Human Health and Disease: A Review

Tomatoes are consumed worldwide as fresh vegetables because of their high contents of essential nutrients and antioxidant-rich phytochemicals. Tomatoes contain minerals, vitamins, proteins, essential amino acids (leucine, threonine, valine, histidine, lysine, arginine), monounsaturated fatty acids (linoleic and linolenic acids), carotenoids (lycopene and β-carotenoids) and phytosterols (β-sitosterol, campesterol and stigmasterol). Lycopene is the main dietary carotenoid in tomato and tomato-based food products and lycopene consumption by humans has been reported to protect against cancer, cardiovascular diseases, cognitive function and osteoporosis. Among the phenolic compounds present in tomato, quercetin, kaempferol, naringenin, caffeic acid and lutein are the most common. Many of these compounds have antioxidant activities and are effective in protecting the human body against various oxidative stress-related diseases. Dietary tomatoes increase…