Effect of Oil Marination on Nutrient Content of Fresh Tomato

Abstract

Tomato is one of the most widely consumed fresh vegetables in the world. This study was conducted to investigate the effect of oil marination on nutrient content of fresh tomatoes. The tomatoes were grouped into three. The group 1 served as the fresh (control), group 2 was the unblanched and group 3 was the blanched tomatoes. Both the groups 2 and 3 were oil immersed and stored for 6 weeks. The vitamins (A, C and E) contents of the fresh marinated tomatoes (75.14mg/100g, 15.14mg/100g and 154.34mg/100g) respectively were significantly (P<0.05) higher than the concentration found in the unblanched and blanched marinated tomatoes. The lycopene content of the fresh oil marinated tomatoes is 21.53mg/100g which was significantly (P<0.05) higher than the unblanched tomatoes (16.64 to 17.81 mg/100g) and the blanched (19.05 to 20.63 mg/100g). The sodium ion concentration on fresh sample is 122.01mg/kg, this value was significantly (P<0.05) higher than that of blanched and unblanched marinated tomatoes. There was no significant difference in the calcium ion and potassium ion concentration of the fresh tomatoes with that of blanched and unblanched samples. The magnesium ion content in the fresh sample was 1.4 mg/kg which was significantly (P<0.05) greater than that of the blanched marinated tomatoes (0.95 to 1.26mg/kg) and the unblanched (0.89 to 1.14mg/kg). The oil marinated tomatoes did not rotten for the entire six weeks under observation. This might be a better way for a long-term preservation of fresh tomatoes.