While most tomatoes produced worldwide are used in the production of tomato paste, an ingredient in different
processed tomato products such as ketchup, sauces, and soups a significant number of tomatoes are consumed fresh. For instance, in New Zealand, 40,000 tonnes of fresh tomatoes were supplied to the consumer market in the year 2002. Most of these tomatoes are consumed raw, in salads, or after cooking at home. However, some consumers remove the skin and seeds of tomatoes before eating them raw, while some fresh tomatoes are cooked with or without the skin and seeds. Boiling and baking has been reported to have a relatively small effect on the antioxidant content of tomatoes, whereas, frying significantly (p < 0.001) reduced the antioxidant contents