New food additives from tomato remains

2004/02/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Dietetika/Elikagaiak

In Europe, 8.5 million tons of tomato are produced. Of these, 7 million tons are processed to make ketchup, sauces or other products.

When the tomato is processed, 40% of the raw material is poured as waste, mainly bark and seeds. These residues, without value for the industry, are an excellent source of carotenes, proteins, sugars, fibers, waxes and oils.

The recovery and valorization of these components from tomato residues allows the production of new food additives. This is what the AZTI technology centre will develop within the European TOM project.

The products to be manufactured are expected to be inferior to the similar products in the market due to the low price of raw materials and the peculiarities of the process. In this way, the residues of the tomato processing industry will be significantly reduced.