Tomato: nutrition per 100 g

1. 01

   Top vegetable for beta-carotene

   Ripe local tomato carries 905 micrograms of beta-carotene per 100 g, 1st of 31 vegetables and 30th of 160 foods. Cooking tomatoes with a little oil, as in a tadka or gravy, helps the body absorb carotenoids.

2. 02

   Vitamin C, 8th of 36

   With 27.5 mg vitamin C per 100 g, tomato gives a man 34 per cent of his daily need and a woman 42 per cent. Raw tomato in kachumber keeps all of it; long simmering keeps less.

3. 03

   Very light

   At 20 kcal, 2.7 g carbohydrate and 93.6 g water per 100 g, tomato adds flavour, colour and acidity to a dish with almost no energy. Its natural sugars are 1.3 g per 100 g.

4. 04

   Some potassium

   Each 100 g supplies 204 mg potassium and only 10 mg sodium. Tomato is low in protein, iron and calcium, so its role is flavour and vitamins rather than minerals.

Values per 100 g of the edible portion. Source: Longvah T, Ananthan R, Bhaskarachary K, Venkaiah K. Indian Food Composition Tables 2017. National Institute of Nutrition, Indian Council of Medical Research, Hyderabad. Daily-need shares use the ICMR-NIN 2020 recommended dietary allowances for a 65 kg man and a 55 kg woman doing sedentary work (ICMR-NIN brief note). Nutrients IFCT did not analyse for this food are left out rather than shown as zero.

• Thakkali rasam in Tamil Nadu: ripe tomatoes simmered with tamarind, pepper, cumin and garlic into a thin, sour broth.
• Tomato pachadi in Andhra Pradesh: green or ripe tomatoes cooked and ground with roasted chillies, garlic and a mustard tempering.
• Bengali tomato chutney: tomatoes cooked with dates, raisins, jaggery and panch phoron, served at the end of a festive meal.
• Masor tenga in Assam: a light, sour fish curry soured with ripe tomatoes and lemon.
• Sev tameta nu shaak in Gujarat: a sweet, sour and spicy tomato curry topped with crisp besan sev.

A common Indian belief holds that tomato seeds cause kidney stones. Tomatoes are in fact low in oxalate, and most people who form stones do not need to avoid them or remove the seeds; anyone with a specific diagnosis should follow their doctor's advice. Tomatoes are acidic, and some people with acid reflux find that raw tomato or very sour tomato dishes worsen heartburn. Unripe green tomatoes contain tomatine, which is reduced by cooking, so eat them cooked in chutneys and curries rather than raw in large amounts.

Food composition is general information, not a diet plan. Anyone managing a medical condition should plan their diet with a doctor or a registered dietitian.

• Capsicum

  Nutrition per 100 g, from IFCT 2017.

• Onion

  Nutrition per 100 g, from IFCT 2017.

• Brinjal (baingan)

  Nutrition per 100 g, from IFCT 2017.

• Cucumber

  Nutrition per 100 g, from IFCT 2017.

• Raw mango

  Nutrition per 100 g, from IFCT 2017.

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