"Lycopene, the fat soluble carotenoid pigment that gives tomatoes their color, is locked inside the plant cell walls, and heat, from cooking or processing, ruptures those walls, pulling the pigment into a form the body can utilize. That's why canned or cooked tomatoes have more absorbable antioxidants than raw fruit. The canned tomato is also more concentrated, so there's more pigment, flavor compounds and therefore, vitamins, per bite."
"Even scientific deep-dive studies have be unable to come to a definitive conclusion as to whether fresh or canned tomatoes are more nutritious. If you want a bright, acidic taste, or the clean, mineral profile you get when a tomato is still firm and cool, "pick" the fresh fruit, which personifies the fleeting, volatile aromatics that remind you a tomato is a berry."
Canned tomatoes gain bioavailable lycopene through heat, which ruptures plant cell walls and releases pigment into a usable form. Cooking and canning concentrate pigment, flavor compounds, and many vitamins per bite. Vitamin C and folate degrade with prolonged heat because they exist in the tomato's watery flesh. Mineral content varies by concentration and processing, including added salt. Fresh tomatoes retain bright, acidic taste, firm texture, and volatile aromatics. Scientific studies have not produced a definitive conclusion about overall nutrition. Canned tomatoes are a nutritious, culinarily superior choice for sauces and out-of-season use.
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