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6402820 
Journal Article 
Antioxidant bioactive compounds in tomato fruits at different ripening stages and their effects on normal and cancer cells 
Del Giudice, R; Raiola, A; Tenore, GC; Frusciante, L; Barone, A; Monti, DM; Rigano, MM 
2015 
Yes 
Journal of Functional Foods
ISSN: 1756-4646 
18 
83-94 
WOS:000367757400009 
The changes in antioxidant content of tomato fruits at different ripening stages (mature green, breaker and mature red) were determined and hydrophilic extracts were tested on normal and cancer cells. Large differences existed in the content of bioactive compounds at different ripening stages, with breaker tomatoes containing a higher content of hydrophilic antioxidants. We demonstrated a high cytotoxic effect of a-tomatine in green, but not in breaker, tomato extracts on all cell lines analysed. Cell death was found to be an apoptotic independent mechanism, probably due to a-tomatine binding to cell membrane cholesterol, disruption of cell integrity and necrosis. These results help in understanding which harvesting stage corresponds to the highest functional power of tomato fruits and may lead to the development of tomato-based functional foods. 
Antioxidant power; Cholesterol; Cytotoxicity; Solanum lycopersicum; alpha-tomatine