Tomato in India occupies second position amongst the vegetable crops in terms of production. Another encouraging trend has been that India's production level of processed tomato has risen by 50 per cent. The main objective of processing is to supply wholesome, safe, nutritious and acceptable food to consumers throughout the year. Tomatoes and tomato-based foods are considered healthy for the reason that they are low in calories, but possess a remarkable combination of antioxidant micronutrients. The characteristic deep-red colour of ripe tomatoes and tomato based foods, which serves as a measure of total quality is mainly due to Lycopene. Lycopene is a pigment belonging to carotenoid family. Due to its biological and physicochemical properties, especially related to its effects as a natural antioxidant with major health benefits against several degenerative disorders related to cardiovascular system and epithelial tissue presence of lycopene in the diet is of considerable interest. Hence a study was conducted to develop processed tomato products namely jam, squash, pulp and pickle, to evaluate their sensory characteristics like the appearance/colour, flavour, taste, consistency and overall acceptability. The study also included analysis of macro and micronutrients and lycopene in these products. The results indicated that the developed products were best accepted. The lycopene content of Tomato jam was highest (15 mg/100 g), followed by pickle (30 mg/100 g), squash (15 mg/100 g) and pulp (10 mg/100 g). The study indicated that the processed forms of tomatoes may be developed which had higher overall acceptability scores with high lycopene content thereby providing nutritious foods to the consumers.
