LycoRed launches value-added dried tomatoes

The company has developed self-dried cherry tomatoes for use in functional foods. The high-lycopene tomatoes were bred and commercialized by Tomaisins International. "The development of this unique means of delivering lycopene for fortification allows us to offer yet another lycopene fortification ingredient that complies with a clean label,"​ said Zohar Nir, vice president of new product development with LycoRed. The supplier will be licensing the use of the Lyc-O-Mato brand name and logo to manufacturers fortifying their products with the Lyc-O-Mato self-dried cherry tomatoes. It suggests use of the value-added ingredient in rice mixes, cereals, savory snacks, pastas and nutrition bars. The company says that while ordinary cherry tomatoes contain a fraction of a milligram of lycopene, one Lyc-O-Mato self-dried cherry tomato provides more than 1mg of lycopene. As such, it says only five of these self-dried cherry tomatoes are needed to provide the 5mg serving it recommends for the fortification of conventional foods. Lycopene has been linked to promoting heart, prostate, and skin health as well as to protecting cells from oxidative damage. LycoRed is specialized in the production and formulation of carotenoids including lycopene, lutein, beta-carotene, phytoene and phytofluene, as well as natural colorants, premix and microencapsulated ingredients.