THE VALUABLE TOMATO.

Shannon News, 22 March 1927, Page 3

THE VALUABLE TOMATO.

A WHOLESOME POOD. <L: Sir Arbuthnot Lane, Bart., G.P, writing in the London Daily Mail, says.::— I have often been asked to supplement . the general advice on diet by further details of a practical nature on the several natural foods such as fruits and vegetables. Dr. Willimott has therefore prepared accounts which will be of great practical value of about a dozen of the most important articles of food. By Dr. S. G. Willimott, D.Sc, the research scientist who is associated with Prof ( . Sir P. Cowland Hopkins in his work at Cambridge

University. It is probable that the tomato is the most valuable of the home grown fruits. At first it was extensively grown as a decorative plant, but the realisation of its value as an article of focd has been comparatively recent in England. "The cultivation of the tomato under glass has developed so rapid'.y that it now constitutes an important industry of its own. Chemical analysis alone afford.* little clue to the real food value of the tomato. It is richest in carbohydrates, but like most fruits and vegetables is unimportant as a source of fat or of the flesh-forming constituent called protein. Its fuel value is low.

Why, then, is_ the tomato so much esteemed? The answer lies in its high content of the vitamins. In its store of vitamin. 3—-which wards off seurvy —it is the rival of the orange and has, in fact, been used successfully as a cheap alternative to orange juice in infant feeding. It has also been established that by the application of proper methods of processing tomatoes may be canne 1 apparently with little destruction of their anti-scorbutic value. The consumption of the raw fruit is always sounder, but in special circumstances such preparations have their uses. In addition to vitamin C, tomatoes also contain considerable amounts of vitamins A and B, which fortify the total vitamins in the diet. The Cancer Fallacy.

The belief that tomatoes contain oxalic acid is incorrect, the chief acil present being citric acid, a natural constituent of fruits. The flavour of the fruit is due to its sharp volatile oil. Small amounts of certain minerals are also present. The idea, once popu lar, that the consumption of tomatoes is liable to cause cancer is without scientific justification, and is, perhaps, an illustration of how wide of the mark popular opinion on food and nutrition can sometimes be. To .the housewife the tomato is estimable "as a salad material in the raw state, or for the flavour it imparts "when fried in "soups and sauces. But it is~in the raw, untampered state that it does most good.. Here we may well follow the practice' of our Continental friends, who consume considerably morjaw salad than is customary with us to their great advantage in health and happiness. Eaw tomatoes as an ingredient of green salads are a cheap, concentrated source of the principal vitamins w.;thin the reach of all.