We already know that fried tomato, Mediterranean sauce that brighten many of our plates, helps us to take care of our health, but there is one thing we do not know, and it is that cook over a low heat has a lot of advantages and, some of them have been recently confirmed by science. According to a research published in the journal Food Research International, cooking a fried onion and tomato for one hour strengthens the production of beneficial molecules.
The authors of the study are a research team of the Center for Biomedical Research in Network-Pathophysiology of Obesity and Nutrition (CIBEROBN) and the University of Barcelona. Their work proves for the first time the positive effects of the synergy between the different ingredients of fried tomato and the effects in the production of isomers of lycopene (similar molecules but with different properties), the most present carotenoid in tomato, responsible for its red color, with antioxidant capacity and it is not destroyed when cooked.
The study, published in the journal Food Research International, concluded that prepare the sauce in a restful way, with a cooking time of one hour approximately, and adding onion, are related with a greater production of 5-Z-lycopene, 9-Z-lycopene and 13-Z-lycopene. They are beneficial because of their antioxidant capacity and they have a protector effect against cancer, cardiovascular diseases and type 2 diabetes.
Doctor Rosa María Lamuela-Raventós, researcher of the University of Barcelona and CIBEROBN has said that: “This is a novel study because there are almost no scientific researches that focus the issue of the effects of cooking on health. Our objective was to evaluate how the home processing of fried tomato and synergies between different ingredients, such as extra virgin olive oil, onion and garlic, used to elaborate this typical Mediterranean sauce, interact and increase the presence of carotenoids.”
In order to study how the sum of these ingredients potentiates the beneficial effects that they already have separately, the researchers used a complete vector design. In this way, the analyzed the contribution of each food to the increase of carotenoids in the fried tomato and they determined if it was possible to improve the presence in relation to the cooking time and the synergies of the components. The analysis revealed the presence of nine types of carotenoids and their isomers, registering their highest level with the onion and with a cooking of 60 minutes.
Each of the ingredients of this sauce separately have great properties. Tomato, source of carotenes, especially if cooked or crushed, has beneficial effects on cholesterol levels and blood pressure and it is an ally against prostate cancer. Onion and garlic, also present in this recipe, are credited with benefits against cardiovascular diseases, hypertension, diabetes and cancer for its polyphenol content. Extra virgin olive oil, rich in oleic acid, polyphenols and vitamin E, is another star ingredient.