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Traditional Fermented Tomato
Why Were Tomato Products Fermented In The Past
Why Aren't Tomatoes Commonly Fermented In The West Today
Lycopene
Bio-Foods
® ANCESTRAL FOODS ® Fermented Tomato
Traditional Fermented Tomato
Historically, Fermented Tomato is related to the history of ketchup and other similar recipes. Few older people today, no less children, realize the pureed condiment they liberally squirt onto the common burger and fries evolved from the richly varied tradition of fermented foods containing all the goodness and wholesomeness that fermentation provides. Yet in America about two hundred years ago tomatoes were fermented and combined with other herbs and seasonings to add a savory flavor to meats, vegetables, and fish.
Tomatoes were domesticated in Central America, and brought to Europe by Spanish explorers. Previously, Ketchups from Asia, enjoyed by the British since the 1700's, and similar products produced in Europe since Roman times, had been made with other ingredients like mushrooms, fish, or walnuts, plus spices and vinegar and were often fermented. These Ketchups, unlike 'sauces' which were made for fairly immediate use, were intended to be stored for longer periods and used to flavor or strengthen the flavor of other sauces or stocks. About 200 years ago Tomato Ketchup appeared in the US, and it too was often fermented.
Why Were Tomato Products Fermented In The Past
As with other vegetables that had been fermented since ancient times, preservation was probably the main reason. Our early ancestors must have observed that certain microbial effects on the physical makeup of raw vegetables produced foods that remained healthful for longer periods, remained appetizing longer, caused less sickness, and that such beneficial microbial action could be promoted. Without realizing it, the positive changes they allowed the beneficial micro-organisms to bring about, prevented the growth of pathological organisms that could produce toxic compounds. That critical "new technology" was passed down through the ages, generation to generation.
Adding diversity to the taste of food was certainly a reason, and another may have been an observed improvement in digestion and nutritive value, especially when consumed with cooked meats.
Improved digestibility and consumption of enzymes from fermentation could easily have provided an observable benefit to those early ancestors.
Why Aren't Tomatoes Commonly Fermented In The West Today
Among many reasons is the lost awareness of the benefits of fermented vegetables in general and an overriding need for low cost, minimal time-consuming methods to produce mass quantities of packaged products for a mass food economy.
More profoundly, a 180 degree difference exists between the mentality of using nature's living organisms to prepare foods and improve them from a nutritive and digestive viewpoint, and the mentality of taking foods apart to select chemical components which can be modified and re-designed by food engineers to be marketable from the point of view of chemical functionality and label claims.
Lycopene
Tomatoes, like other foods, are a complex miracle of nutrients and phytonutrients. The synergistic and co-functional interactions between the constituents of whole foods have yet to be fully elucidated. Lycopene, although just one constituent of tomato, is certainly an important one which has received justified scientific interest. However, should we use modern chemistry to separate the oils containing Lycopene from the tomato and then further isolate it away from the other constituents which it may need to work optimately? Or, should lycopene be consumed in a complex natural state as Nature intended?
Bio-Foods ® ANCESTRAL FOODS
® Fermented Tomato
Advantages:
Versatility. Spray dried powder form makes it easy to formulate in a wide
variety of products.
Mild taste and aroma.
Ease of handling.
No freezing or refrigeration required. As a dehydrated food, shelf life is enhanced.
Dependable lycopene content in complex formation with the tomato food matrix.
Improved digestibility of a traditional fermented food without the high salt content.
No sweeteners such as sugar or high fructose corn syrup.
The full "nutritional orchestra" contained in natural tomato, plus the added vitamin and nutrient content of nutritional yeast.
How Made:
In brief, Bio-Foods' proprietary process includes cooking at low temperature in a liquid nutritional broth with a standardized Lycopene content, to which a large inoculation of Saccharomyces cerevisiae is added. After a lengthy active fermentation phase, enzymes are added to help stop fermentation. The product is then spray dried. Complete microbiological testing, as well as Lycopene content, is performed before release by Quality Control.
How Different:
Bio-Foods' product is a modern version of what our ancestors made. In the past, heavy use of salt was a necessary step in the process. Salt is not needed in our process due to our modern drying capabilities.
In the past, when the fermenting organisms used were those that were naturally occurring on the surfaces of the foodstuffs to be fermented, yeast fermentation was secondary to lactic acid fermentation. In our modern process, yeast has been elevated to the sole fermenting organism. The reason behind this improvement is explained in our write-up discussing the choice of yeast over lactobacillus. In a nutshell, the nutritional quality is boosted immensely.
A number of commercial tomato products over the years contained significant amounts of sugar. Today one is more likely to find high fructose corn syrup. Bio-Foods does not use any sweetener in its process.
Uses:
In any modern consumer product formulated for health, appeal, variety, and convenience, namely wherever powdered vegetable ingredients are used today. Your creativity is the only limit. Applications include:
Bread, pasta, flour enhances, sauce mixes, etc.
Powdered Drinks: Special diet, weight loss, sport, etc.
Meal Replacement Products: For diet, for convenience, etc.
Functional Foods: Nutraceuticals, medical foods, etc.
Supplements: Tablets, powders, bars, food base for vitamin supplements, etc.
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