Proximate analysis and total lycopene content of some tomato cultivars obtained from Kano State, Nigeria

Standard analytical techniques were employed to determine the proximate composition and lycopene content of three tomato cultivars namely: Roma VF, Ronita and UTC grown in six local government areas of Kano state, Nigeria. Results indicated mean values of 0.15±0.03, 0.16±0.01, 0.15±0.01% titratable acidity; 8.36±0.01, 8.14±0.02, 8.25±0.03% total soluble solids; 1.19±0.04, 1.25±0.03, 1.12±0.01% crude fiber; 2.26±0.05, 2.32±0.02, 2.60±0.02% crude protein; 0.18±0.01, 0.14±0.01, 0.14±0.02% ash content; 90.75±0.03, 88.43±0.04, 84.15±0.01% moisture content; 3.73±0.09, 4.59±0.09, 4.34±0.18 mg/100g vitamin C and 6.88±0.06, 6.88±0.02, 7.83±0.04 mg/100g lycopene content for Roma VF, Ronita and UTC respectively. The levels of the proximate parameters and lycopene contents have shown that the cultivars were of high nutritional quality and can be good sources of raw material for industrial use due to their high total soluble solids which are twice the minimum level recommended for tomato to be employed for industrial processing. Keywords: Antioxidant, lycopene content, proximate composition, tomato cultivars