A water-soluble, low-molecular-weight fraction from tomato paste, when present at a concentration of 8% of the total incubation mixture, inhibited the formation of advanced glycation end products after incubating protein with either glucose or fructose. The inhibitory effect of the tomato extract appeared to be due mainly to its rutin content, but other factors may have contributed, as well.

Comment: Advanced glycation end products (AGEs) are compounds formed by the interaction of protein molecules and reducing sugars (fructose, glucose, or lactose). The formation of AGEs in the body is believed to be a significant contributing factor to the aging process, and may also play an important role in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular disease and complications of diabetes. The results of the present study suggest that eating tomato products might inhibit the formation of these tissue-damaging compounds. When these findings are combined with the known antioxidant and anti-cancer effects of lycopene (a carotenoid present in large amounts in tomatoes), as well as recent reports that tomato extracts inhibit platelet aggregation, tomatoes are looking more and more like a "health food." One wonders what our ancestors were thinking when they proclaimed that tomatoes are poisonous.

Kiho T, et al. Tomato paste fraction inhibiting the formation of advanced glycation end-products. Biosci Biotechnol Biochem 2004;68:200-205.