Health boost in fried red tomatoes

Cooking tomatoes with fat can more than double their anti-cancer properties, scientists said today. Researchers found a combination of heat and fat makes lycopene, a natural pigment in red tomatoes linked to the prevention of cancer, more easily absorbed by the body.

The scientists say that for the perfect lycopene-rich tomato, it should be heated at 126C for 40 minutes.

The researchers discovered people had on average 55 per cent more lycopene in their blood after eating the specially-cooked sauce than after eating standard tomato sauce.

The researchers say reheating meals could have a similar effect.

Professor Steven Schwartz of Ohio State University, who led the study, said: "Some people like to cook tomato sauce for prolonged periods, sometimes re-heating it day after day, because it tastes better on the second and third day. They add fat by using oil or meat, and that's going to start this process."