The lovely red berries or tomatoes are a favorite vegetable for most of us. Tomatoes are mostly associated with Italian delicacies and it’s said that an Italian delight is incomplete without use of this yummy berry. Tomatoes are eaten mostly as raw and as a garnish for our vegetable salads as well as appetizers. They are mostly relished when cooked as soups, sauces and stews.

Tomato is a vegetable tasting like a fruit and it is no exaggeration that many people take a big serving of tomatoes every day at least during the season of tomato abundance and why should they be refrained tomatoes in fact are great for the diet conscious with low calories and high in essential vitamins.

An estimate says that about 100 g of tomatoes give 16 mg of ascorbic acid or vitamin C and a little over 20 mcg of folate. Additionally, tomatoes are a great source of vitamin E. Good potassium concentration and beta carotene are needless to mention. The phytochemicals present in the fruit for instance the lycopene is a pigment present in good concentration in the peel/skin. These carotenoids possess antioxidant properties and help the body fight carcinogens.

Tomatoes have been subject of great interest by the medical fraternity and several researchers clearly concluded that men that consume more of these berries suffer low risk of prostate cancer as well as heart ailments. However as the adage goes ‘too much of anything is good for nothing excessive consumption of tomatoes is toxic for body. The species belongs to the family Solanaceae whose members harbor a toxic compound called solanines. The solanines when accumulated in excess can result in severe headaches as well as bouts of pain in the rheumatoid arthritis patients. The oxalic acid in the seeds of tomatoes also does some harm to us resulting in the formation of calculi in kidneys. If you cant stop going for these tasty little berries, it is advised to consume ripe and fresh tomatoes for exploiting more benefits.

Here is one easy-to-make tomato recipe you may want to try:

Tomato Relish

Ingredients :

Take about 20-25 tomatoes, blanch and peel them

Take about 2 big-sized onions and chop them

1 red capsicum and chop it

About 5 cups of sugar (brown sugar)

Take salt to taste (about ½ cup)

Take 2 cups vinegar

For seasoning take a tablespoon full mustard seeds and about half spoonful celery seeds.

Take all the vegetables after chopping them in a pan and add salt to the mixture and stir it. Leave it for 100 minutes and then pour the mixture into jelly bag and leave it overnight.

Now next morning take the sugar, the mustard and celery seeds and vinegar in a bowl and heat and pour this mixture on to the drained vegetables with stirring.

Collect the mixture into jars and for about 20 minutes process the mixture in boiling bath. It is advised to pressure can this relish under 10lb pressure for about 10 minutes.

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