Tomato varieties: diversity and benefits of the colourful vegetable

• How many tomato varieties are there and what they look like
• Colourful tomatoes: vitamins and other nutrients
• Storing tomatoes in the fridge or not?
• This might also interest you

The tomato is one of the most popular vegetables. Whether for cooking or raw, tomatoes are on the shopping list, even if only in the form of tomato paste or ketchup.

In recent years, the number of different tomato varieties has steadily increased. Until then, the range was limited to just a few varieties. It consisted of round, elongated, beef, and cherry tomatoes. Then the grape or vine tomato was added to the list. Today it is one of the most popular tomato varieties.

The advantage of the vine tomato is the longer shelf life after harvesting and the even ripening of the fruit on the plant without it falling off the vine prematurely. For this reason, the vine tomato can also store a maximum load of nutrients. This benefits the flavour in particular. Cherry tomatoes, cocktail tomatoes and beef tomatoes are now also available as vine tomatoes. In addition to the widespread round shape of the tomato, there are also elongated, flat, plum-, pear-, and date-shaped fruits.

In addition to their shape, the individual tomato varieties also have a lot to offer in terms of colour. And the classic red is complemented by yellow, orange, brown-black, green, purple or even black fruits.

With just 17 kcal per 100 g, tomatoes are very low in calories and can therefore be enjoyed as a snack between meals without hesitation. They also consist of 94 percent water. They can reduce blood pressure and act as a diuretic, which can have a beneficial effect on the heart and kidneys. Thanks to sufficient sunshine and ideal soil, tomatoes are packed with more vitamins A, B, C, and E than almost any other vegetable. They are also rich in magnesium, iron, calcium, and phosphorus.

The secondary plant substances, carotenoids, are responsible for the colours of the different tomato varieties. They range from yellow to red. The red colouring agent lycopene in particular can have an immuno-strengthening effect. To facilitate the absorption of lycopene in the body, tomatoes should be cooked or boiled.

Whether and in what way a tomato tastes good is, of course, subjective. However, there are some factors that influence the ripeness and flavour of the tomato. Of course, the tomato variety plays a major role. Then there is the sugar content, the acidity ratio, the firmness, the method of preparation, the flavour and, of course, the consumption temperature. Some people like them cool, others like them warm. But what happens to the flavour of tomatoes in the fridge?

If you put your tomatoes in the fridge, make sure that you only store fully ripe fruit in it. The cool temperatures in the fridge slow down the spoilage process, but at the same time also stop them from ripening. Tomatoes are climacteric fruits, i.e. they continue to ripen even after harvest. Therefore, leave unripe tomatoes to ripen outside the fridge and only place them in your fridge once they have reached your preferred degree of ripeness.

For a more intense flavour, we recommend taking the tomatoes out of the fridge and warming them to room temperature before eating.

If you want really fresh tomatoes, you can of course also grow your own tomatoes in your garden or on the balcony. This means that nothing stands in the way of direct consumption and you can choose the degree of ripeness and the variety yourself.

^{*All specifications given are to be considered as guideline values, and depend in each case on the type of food and on the proper storage without interruption of the cold chain from harvest/production through to the Liebherr appliance. Should food products have information about minimum shelf life, the date on the packaging always applies.}