Evaluation of tomato fruits quality and the products derived from tomato produced and marketed in Algeria by the content measure in natural antioxidants

Evaluation of tomato fruits quality and the products derived from tomatoes produced and marketed in Algeria by the content measure in natural antioxidants. The competitiveness of agricultural products quality and the food products whose origins are vegetables, whether they are fresh or transformed depends closely on their quality. In this context, the tomato is the typical example of a product whose consumption in fresh form and/or in the form of transformed products is most appreciated by the populations of the mediterraneen bassin. To evaluate the quality of this kind of product, we have measured the tenor in natural antioxidants, mainly the lycopene in the fruits of some varieties of tomatoes which are cultivated in the center area of Algeria and in the various makes of tomato paste (concentrate) marketed in Algeria. The results obtaind have shown that the content in lycopene is higher in the tomato paste, which is around 20 to 60 mg/100 g of dry material against 1 to 2 mg/100 g of tomato fresh fruits. The content in beta-carotene is lower than that of lycopene with a tenor ranging between 13 and 48 mg/100 g of dry material of tomato concentrate and a relatively similar content in the fresh tomato fruits with a tenor in the fresh tomato fruits around 2 to 6 mg/100 g of fresh fruits. On the other hand, the content in vitamin C is more significant in the fresh fruits with a tenor of 11 to 22 mg/100 ml of juice against 2 to 1 mg/100 g of vitamin C in the tomato concentrate. Our results confirm, on the one hand the predominance of lycopene in the fruits and in the products containg tomato; and on the other hand, that the treatments of the transformation exert favorable effects on the lycopene content and the effects are slightly destroying the vitamin C. Such studies aim to better master the cultural conditions and to optimise well the transformation parameters.