There's a moment almost everyone knows. In the middle of summer, you bite into a tomato from the market or your own garden — and something happens. That taste. Intense, sweet, slightly tart, full-bodied. You hear yourself say: "This is how a tomato should taste." In Austria, we call them "Paradeiser."
And then, in winter, you buy a tomato at the supermarket. Beautifully red, uniformly shaped, flawless. You bite into it — and there's nothing. Water. A faint hint of tomato, perhaps. But that moment? Completely missing.
This is no coincidence. And it's not nostalgia.
It's biochemistry.
What's in a real tomato
Tomatoes are among the most nutrient-rich vegetables we know — if they are truly nutrient-rich. That is, they *could* be among the most nutrient-rich vegetables.
Tomatoes contain vitamins A, B1, C, E, and niacin. They also contain important minerals such as potassium, magnesium, calcium, and trace elements. Additionally, they offer secondary plant compounds — substances produced in plants specifically for their needs, for example, as defenses against pests or as sunscreens.
100 grams of fresh tomatoes provide 20 milligrams of vitamin C, which is one-fifth of the daily requirement.
But the star among all tomato ingredients is a substance with an unusual name: lycopene.
Lycopene — the red treasure of the tomato
Lycopene is a secondary plant compound that gives tomatoes their red color and is primarily found in the skin. The concentration is particularly high in very ripe fruits.
What lycopene can do in the body is fascinating. Lycopene is discussed in medicine as a potential active ingredient for the prevention of prostate carcinomas. Researchers compared 17 studies investigating the influence of tomato consumption on the development of prostate cancer — and concluded that tomatoes can indeed play a role in prevention.
Lycopene can also counteract bone wear and tear. Researchers in Portugal supplemented cell cultures with lycopene — the results suggest that the carotenoid has an anabolic effect on bone metabolism.
And something else surprising: a study by the Rowett Research Institute in Aberdeen showed that tomato extract can reduce platelet clumping by up to 30 percent — and can even be more effective than aspirin, which many elderly people take as a blood thinner to prevent heart attacks and strokes.
In a study at the University of Witten-Herdecke, subjects who consumed increased amounts of tomato paste even showed a lower sensitivity to sunburn.
However — and this is crucial — since red fruits contain many other health-promoting substances besides lycopene, such as vitamins, other carotenoids, and flavonoids, all of which jointly contribute to a healthier life, scientists do not consider the sole intake of lycopene as a dietary supplement to be a good idea.
This means: Lycopene from a real, ripe, nutrient-rich tomato works. Lycopene in pill form does not. The tomato is more than the sum of its parts.
A tip almost no one knows — lycopene through heating
Here lies one of the most fascinating surprises of tomato biochemistry: processed products often contain more available lycopene, because heating and crushing make it more accessible and it is present in a more concentrated form in the final product.
This means: a good homemade tomato sauce made from ripe tomatoes is in some respects more nutritious than a raw tomato. Cooking makes lycopene more absorbable for the body.
Another tip: Lycopene is fat-soluble. A splash of olive oil in the tomato sauce — or simply olive oil over fresh tomatoes — significantly increases the absorption of lycopene in the body.
Why supermarket tomatoes taste so different
The "eternal tomato" — a fruit that lasts significantly longer — was the result of years of cross-breeding. Ultimately, a tomato that offers little flavor. The industry is just as uninterested in nutrient content as it is in taste. New cross-breeds are generally not tested for vitamins, minerals, etc.
Tomatoes develop sweetness and aroma only shortly before ripening — and their flavor is best preserved when stored at 12 to 16 degrees Celsius. A tomato that is harvested unripe, transported for weeks, and stored in the refrigerator simply never had the chance to become what it could be.
Added to this is the dilution effect: many studies show that our food today contains only a fraction of the minerals it did 60 years ago. The values today are 50 to 70 percent lower than they were then. This depends partly on the varieties, but mostly on the soil.
Organic is good — but not automatically nutrient-rich
A widespread misconception: organic tomato equals nutrient-rich tomato.
A study at the Universidade Federal do Ceará showed that organic fruits contained up to 57 percent more vitamin C and 139 percent more polyphenols compared to conventionally grown ones.
That sounds impressive — and it is. But it also reveals the real problem: the difference is not in the label. It's in the soil. In the mineral supply. In the way the plant grows and ripens.
Organically grown tomatoes had significantly higher values for all 35 investigated ingredients than conventionally grown ones. But even within the organic sector, there are huge differences — depending on how the soil is structured, how the plant is nourished, and how it ripens.
The decisive criterion is not organic or conventional. It is nutrient density. And that is measurable.
The Brix value of a tomato — what good numbers mean
The Brix value provides a rough measurement of the sugar and mineral content of the fruit. And for tomatoes, it is particularly meaningful — because sugar and lycopene go hand in hand. A tomato that produces more sugar has a plant behind it that has undergone intensive photosynthesis. And precisely this intensive photosynthesis also produces more lycopene, more vitamin C, and more polyphenols.
What are good Brix values for tomatoes?
| Quality | Brix value |
|---|---|
| Poor — supermarket tomato | 4–5 °Brix |
| Good — farmer's market, garden | 6–8 °Brix |
| Excellent — optimally nourished plant | over 10 °Brix |
A tomato with 10 °Brix not only tastes twice as intense as one with 5 °Brix. It also contains significantly more lycopene, more vitamin C, and more potassium — because the plant behind it has undergone more photosynthesis and incorporated more minerals.
The intense red color is no coincidence but a visible sign: the lycopene concentration is particularly high in very ripe fruits. Deep, rich red is a sign of quality — and an indicator of Brix.
What a tomato really needs to become nutrient-rich
The answer lies in both the soil and the plant.
A tomato plant optimally supplied with calcium builds more stable cell walls. Stronger cells retain more water — but as cell water, not as empty dilution water. The result is a firmer, more aromatic, and more nutrient-rich fruit.
Calcium also regulates the opening and closing of leaf pores — and thus CO₂ absorption for photosynthesis. More photosynthesis means more sugar. More sugar means more energy for the formation of lycopene and other secondary plant compounds.
At the same time, the tomato needs a lively soil environment with active microorganisms that make minerals available to plants — potassium, magnesium, trace elements that directly contribute to the fruit's nutrient density.
And it needs time. Time on the vine to ripen. A tomato harvested unripe simply never had the chance to fully develop its lycopene.
What this means for us as consumers
Buy ripe and local. A tomato from the farmer's market in August is a different tomato than one from Spain in February. Ripening on the vine is irreplaceable.
Pay attention to color and scent. A deep red, intensely fragrant tomato has more lycopene. The scent comes from volatile aromatic compounds produced by the same plant that produces lycopene. If it smells — it's nutrient-rich.
Eat the skin. Lycopene is primarily in the skin. Peeling tomatoes means losing most of the most valuable ingredient.
Also cook them. Raw tomatoes are wonderful — but a good tomato sauce with olive oil makes lycopene more available to the body. Both have their place.
Ask about the Brix value. Still unusual — but it's changing. More and more conscious growers measure their tomatoes with a refractometer. A tomato with 10 °Brix is a different world than one with 4 °Brix.
What this means for you as a farmer or hobby gardener
The tomato reacts more strongly to soil care and mineral supply than almost any other vegetable — and makes the improvement most visibly and tastefully apparent.
A tomato plant supplied with mineral foliar fertilizer based on activated calcite shows a darker, more intense leaf color after just a few days. The fruits become more uniform, ripen earlier — and what is crucial: they taste like tomato.
Studies by the Oekomineral Group around Dr. Ost confirm this: treated tomato plants develop more chloroplasts, a higher polyphenol content in the tissue, and a measurable increase in dry matter content. Less water in the fruit. More of everything else.
In addition, there is the protective effect: vital tomato plants well-supplied with calcium show significantly higher resistance to fungal diseases such as the feared late blight — because stable cell walls and well-regulated leaf pores precisely secure the entry point through which fungi enter the plant.
Anyone who additionally builds up their tomato soil with paramagnetic basalt and introduces AM+PLUS microorganisms into the soil life creates the basis for a tomato that lives up to its red promise.
The tomato as a measuring instrument
Among all vegetables, the tomato is perhaps the most sensitive measuring instrument for soil health. It immediately shows what works — and what doesn't. A pale, watery tomato is the most honest signal a soil can send.
A deep red, intense, aromatic tomato with a high Brix value is the most beautiful result that well-executed soil care can produce.
And it is the most emotional food in the world. No vegetable evokes more memories. No vegetable makes the difference between industrial production and real agriculture so immediately palpable.
Anyone who has tasted a tomato with 10 °Brix will never buy the pale version again.
You can find out more about nutrient-rich foods and the Brix value as a quality indicator in our article on nutrient density and why vegetables today have fewer nutrients than before.
What paramagnetic basalt, zeolite, and AM+PLUS microorganisms have to do with the nutrient density of your harvest — we explain this in our blog on microorganisms and soil health.
Sources: AOK Magazin, Tomatoes and Lycopene | Verbraucherzentrale, Lycopene | Zentrum der Gesundheit, Tomatoes | Planet Wissen, Tomatoes | Rowett Research Institute Aberdeen, Tomato extract and platelets 2006 | Universidade Federal do Ceará, Organic tomato Vitamin C study | Pflanzenforschung.de, Organic vs. conventional | Permakultur Scheuerhof, Brix value tomato | Oekomineral Group / Tribo Technologies, Technical studies Plantos Verde 2011–2014
