Assessment of Techno-Functional and Nutraceutical Potential of Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) Seed Meal

Tomato seed extract promotes health of the gut microbiota and demonstrates a potential new way to valorize tomato waste

The current effort to valorize waste byproducts to increase sustainability and reduce agricultural loss has stimulated interest in potential utilization of waste components as health-promoting supplements. Tomato seeds are often discarded in tomato pomace, a byproduct of tomato processing, yet these seeds are known to contain an array of compounds with biological activity and prebiotic potential. Here, extract from tomato seeds (TSE), acquired from pomace, was evaluated for their ability to effect changes on the gut microbiota using an ex vivo strategy. The results found that TSE significantly increased levels of the beneficial taxa Bifidobacteriaceae in a donor-independent manner, from a range of 18.6-24.0% to 27.0-51.6% relative abundance following treatment, yet the specific strain of Bifidobacteriaceae enhanced was inter-individually variable. These structural changes corresponded with a significant increase in total short-chain fatty acids, specifically acetate and propionate, from an average of 13.3 to 22.8 mmol/L and 4.6 to 7.4 mmol/L, respectively. Together, these results demonstrated that TSE has prebiotic potential by shaping the gut microbiota in a donor-independent manner that may be beneficial to human health. These findings provide a novel application for TSE harvested from tomato pomace and demonstrate the potential to further valorize tomato waste products.

Supercritical CO2 Treatment to Modify Techno-Functional Properties of Proteins Extracted from Tomato Seeds

Tomato seeds are a rich source of protein that can be utilized for various industrial food purposes. This study delves into the effects of using supercritical CO2 (scCO2) on the structure and techno-functional properties of proteins extracted from defatted tomato seeds. The defatted meal was obtained using hexane (TSMH) and scCO2 (TSMC), and proteins were extracted using water (PEWH and PEWC) and saline solution (PESH and PESC). The results showed that scCO2 treatment significantly improved the techno-functional properties of protein extracts, such as oil-holding capacity and foaming capacity (especially for PEWC). Moreover, emulsifying capacity and stability were enhanced for PEWC and PESC, ranging between 4.8 and 46.7% and 11.3 and 96.3%, respectively. This was made possible by the changes in helix structure content induced by scCO2 treatment, which increased for PEWC (5.2%) and decreased for PESC (8.0%). Additionally, 2D electrophoresis revealed that scCO2 hydrolyzed alkaline proteins in the extracts. These findings demonstrate the potential of scCO2 treatment in producing modified proteins for food applications.

Utilization of Fruit Seed-Based Bioactive Compounds for Formulating the Nutraceuticals and Functional Food: A Review

Fruit seeds include a large number of bioactive substances with potential applications in the culinary and pharmaceutical industries, satisfying current demands for natural ingredients, which are generally preferred since they have fewer adverse effects than artificial components. Researchers have long been interested in the functional features, as well as the proximate and mineral compositions, of diverse fruit seeds such as tomato, apple, guava, and dates, among others. Bioactive components such as proteins (bioactive peptides), carotenoids (lycopene), polysaccharides (pectin), phytochemicals (flavonoids), and vitamins (-tocopherol) are abundant in fruit by-products and have significant health benefits, making them a viable alternative for the formulation of a wide range of food products with significant functional and nutraceutical potential. This article discusses the role and activities of bioactive chemicals found in tomato, apple, dates, and guava seeds, which can be used in a variety of food forms to cure a variety of cardiovascular and neurological disorders, as well as act as an antioxidant, anticancer, and antibacterial agent. The extraction of diverse bioactive components from by-products could pave the path for the creation of value-added products from the fruit industry, making it more commercially viable while also reducing environmental pollution caused by by-products from the fruit industry.

Valorization Potential of Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) Seed: Nutraceutical Quality, Food Properties, Safety Aspects, and Application as a Health-Promoting Ingredient in Foods

The tomato is a member of the Solanaceae family and is a crop that is widely cultivated around the world due to its sweet, sour, salty, juicy, and nutritious berries. The processing of tomatoes generates a significant amount of waste in the form of tomato pomace, which includes seeds and skin. Tomato seeds are reservoirs of various nutrients, such as proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, minerals, and vitamins. These components make tomato seeds an important ingredient for application in food matrices. This review discusses the functional food properties of tomato seeds and their scope of utilization as major ingredients in the functional food industry. In addition, this review describes the development of tomato seeds as a potential nutritional and nutraceutical ingredient, along with recent updates on research conducted worldwide. This is the first review that demonstrates the nutritional profile of tomato seeds along with its diverse functional food properties and application as a functional food ingredient.

Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) seed: A review on bioactives and biomedical activities

The processing of tomato fruit into puree, juices, ketchup, sauces, and dried powders generates a significant amount of waste in the form of tomato pomace, which includes seeds and skin. Tomato processing by-products, particularly seeds, are reservoirs of health-promoting macromolecules, such as proteins (bioactive peptides), carotenoids (lycopene), polysaccharides (pectin), phytochemicals (flavonoids), and vitamins (α-tocopherol). Health-promoting properties make these bioactive components suitable candidates for the development of novel food and nutraceutical products. This review comprehensively demonstrates the bioactive compounds of tomato seeds along with diverse biomedical activities of tomato seed extract (TSE) for treating cardiovascular ailments, neurological disorders, and act as antioxidant, anticancer, and antimicrobial agent. Utilization of bioactive components can improve the economic feasibility of the tomato processing industry and may help to reduce the environmental pollution generated by tomato by-products.