A comparative study on phytochemical, nutritional and microbial load of fresh and spoiled tomatoes (Lycopersicon esculentum L.).

Most Ghanaians preferably consume spoiled tomatoes due to their inexpensiveness, however, the nutritional content and health implications associated with tomato spoilage remain unknown. This study compared the nutritional and phytochemical composition, and the microbial safety of fresh and spoiled tomatoes from the Ghanaian market using standard analytical protocols. The study results revealed considerably higher levels of crude fibre (3.54%), potassium (140.80 mg/100g), and folic acid (0.07 mg/100 g) in spoiled tomatoes when compared with fresh tomato samples which recorded corresponding amounts as 0.81%, 88.88 mg/100 g and 0.04 mg/100 g, except for moisture and Vitamin C which were otherwise. Also, phytochemicals including lycopene, beta-carotene and chlorogenic acid were 58.33, 57.05 and 1.17 mg/100 g, respectively higher in spoiled tomatoes than the fresh samples. Nonetheless, microbial loads in spoiled tomatoes were very high with Total Viable Count (TVC) ranging from 3.31 to 5.52 Log10 CFU/mL and similarly unacceptable values for Total Coliform Count (TCC) and Escherichia coli, while yeast and moulds were too numerous to count (TNC). Although, the nutritional content of tomato samples in a state of senescence were observed as high, this study clearly showed that the high level of microbial contaminants recorded from the spoiled tomatoes make it unsafe for human consumption. Further studies could be conducted to investigate the impact of cooking methods on the spoiled tomatoes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]