Vitamin C and phenolic compounds are important nutrients contained in tomatoes. According to Aurelice Oliveira, Universidade Federal do Cearò, Brazil, and colleagues the concentrations of these substances is higher in tomatoes grown under organic farming conditions.

The researchers compared conventional and organic farming systems and demonstrated that the latter are associated with oxidative stress. Thus, tomatoes grown under organic conditions activate an antioxidant response which increases ascorbate production, favors the accumulation of sugars, and augments the conversion of l-phenylalanine into transcinnamate, an essential step for the biosynthesis of phenolic compounds. As a consequence, although organic farming systems negatively affect tomatoes’ size, they promote the accumulation of important nutrients and, thus, they improve fruits’ quality.

• The impact of organic farming on quality of tomatoes is associated to increased oxidative stress during fruit development,
  A. B. Oliveira, C. F. H. Moura, E. Gomes-Filho, C. A. Marco, L. Urban, M. R. A. Miranda,
  PLoS ONE 2013, 8(2), e56354.
  DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0056354