Lycopene, the antioxidant

One of the most interested compounds of the tomatoes is lycopene, a carotenoid pigment responsible for its deep-red color when ripe. It has strong antioxidant properties, which makes it two to three times more effective than its carotenoid counterparts. Antioxidants can neutralize free radicals, which are permanently produced by the metabolism. These toxic and highly reactive substances induce oxidative stress that leads to aging and cellular degeneration. The high production of free radicals is associated with various factors such as smoking, alcohol consumption, bad diet, etc. An external intake of antioxidants via the diet therefore helps to combat cell degeneration. The consumption of lycopene-rich food has been showed to reduce risk of chronic diseases. Studies have shown that a diet rich in lycopene, in particular through a high consumption of tomatoes and tomato products, prevents the occurrence of several types of cancer as well as atherosclerosis and coronary heart disease.

Tomatoes have many health benefits

If this pigment can be found in different types of fruits and vegetables (watermelon, red bell pepper, pink grapefruit, etc.), tomatoes are the second most important source of lycopene, after guavas – however they are more easy available than the latter. Produced in large amounts throughout the world, tomatoes remain the most accessible natural source of lycopene.

Futhermore, the lycopene content varies depending on the varieties of tomatoes but also according to production methods. Tomatoes grown in fields and picked mature will have a higher lycopnee content than those in greenhouses and/or picked green. The transformation process also has an important impact on its bioavailability, i.e. the part that is assimilated by the organism. In fact, if this process reduces the lycopene content in the finished product compared to fresh tomatoes, it improves its bioavailability. Because of its lypophilic nature, lycopene absorption is made more efficient if tomato products are consumed with a source of fat.

Read more at: https://www.futura-sciences.com/sante/actualites/medecine-obesite-tabagisme-pourraient-accelerer-vieillissement-humain-6649/; https://www.refiascone.it/?p=1158 

[1] 31% of the daily recommended intake for 100g

[2] 31% of the daily recommended intake for 100g

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At the pizzerias of No900 not only can you taste an authentic Neapolitan pizza with our rediscovered tomato, but you can also buy the jars directly and discover the taste of an ancient time, even in Canada.

With a special invitation, placed right next to the label: “Visitez les terrasses de Re Fiascone sur la côte Amalfitaine”. A promotion not only for our tomato but also for the Amalfi Coast thus enhancing a quality production that has always been cultivated in this geographical area.

Thanks to all this, many abandoned terraces of the Amalfi Coast are reviving.

There are many small seeds that are sprouting.

The article In Canada together with the chain No900 and an invitation to visit the terraces of the Amalfi Coast seems to be the first on Re Fiascone.

This short video shows a typical day of harvesting our ancient tomato Re Fiascone, on a terrace in Tramonti, a mountain area of ​​the Amalfi Coast, and land where this vegetable was cultivated since the early 900s, always being the main ingredient of many traditional recipes.

Together with his family, Giovanni Di Palma, our “custodian farmer“, manually harvests the 2019 fruits.

We wake up at dawn, and one by one, the perfectly ripe tomatoes are harvested and selected to then be taken to the artisan laboratory where the processing traditionally takes place.

It is one of those important moments that encompasses the work of an entire season, starting with the seeding that takes place in March.

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Some image of the video 2018 about the ancient tomato Re Fiascone

“In a place where the ancient tomato RE FIASCONE grows” is a title of our new, 2018 video. Pictures shot by Jenny Shi (young Chinese video maker) and Antonio Di Martino tell story of journey of our precious tomatoes, starting with seeds that subsequently become sprouts, up to mature fruits whose fiery red enriches color and flavor of every dish, turning it into true explosion of tastes. Video presents also once abandoned terraces of the Amalfi coast, that regained their former glory and now again nurture this high quality tomato. Fiascone, known also as King Umberto, was cultivated there already at the beginning of 20th century by farmers who used to pass from hand-to-hand its precious seeds that later fortunately arrived to us. A long journey of rediscovery and enhancement of a unique, inimitable tomato.

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Chef Massimo Tringali with the French critic Jean-Luc Petitrenaud

Massimo Tringali, Executive Chef of Emporio Armani Restaurant in Paris (Boulevard Saint-Germain) presents a very special recipe made with our ancient tomato on the famous French TV show on France 5 “Les Escapades de Petitrenaud“, hosted by famous gastronomic critic Jean-Luc Petitrenaud.

The recipe showed by the Sicilian chef is hand made ravioli with stuffed with burrata and laid down on Re Fiascone sauce.

“The tomato coming from the Amalfi Coast – Tringali explains in front of France 5’s cameras – has a very nice scent, it is very rare and hard to find, and form me it is something extraordinary”.

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Experts of the QR-Code Campania checking the soil

Our ancient Re Umberto tomato is grown on the terraces of the Amalfi Coast, in hilly areas like Tramonti, far from roads and surrounded by nature.

These plots of lands are healthy and protected. As we want to prove it also with scientific elements, we joined the project QR Code Campania which aims to monitor production areas by collecting samples of soil and analysing them the labs of the Istituto Zooprofilattico del Mezzogiorno (Zooprophylactic Istituto of Mezzogiorno) and Agriculture Department and Veterinary Medicine of Federico II University in Naples..

We really care about our tomato, and we care about the health of people who wants to eat our ancient King Umberto.

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The famous French magazine “Marianne”, focus on the Emporio Armani Restaurant (located in front of the the Saint-Germain-de-Près church), in their article about the high quality cuisine and where to taste the flavours of italian products cooked by recognized chefs in Paris. Armani Restaurant’s director Massimo Mori and Executive Chef Massimo Tringali have created a special and unique “culinary container” of Italian cuisine. They in fact carried out a research of quality products connected to the traditions and local areas, with traditional recipes re-elaborated with a modern view. Following this philosophy, traditional ravioli have been laid down on a sauce of Re Umberto tomato. The picture of the dish is a celebration of our tomato Re Fiascone and a description of its history and origin reminds also the land in which it is grown, the beautiful Amalfi Coast. A place rich of gorgeous landscapes and also quality products.

The article Marianna, on the French magazine the exaltation of our ancient tomato seems to be the first on Re Fiascone.

Journalist Monica Piscitelli and her camera crew climbed up the steep and hard to reach terraces where our ancient King Umberto tomato (also known as Fiascone) is grown. To better understand the project they interviewed Vincenzo Sannino, the president of Acarbio association which recovered these ancient seeds. Only after years of research studies about its characteristics it became possible to launch a start-up company which now produces artisanal “Re Fiascone” tomatoes following old local traditions, also thanks to local farmers, our “seed guardians” who are doing “heroic agriculture work” in a land once abandoned and forgotten. They started to cultivate this true rural biodiversity using only their hands, without any machinery or chemicals. Our tomato is truly different from the others. Try to see yourself.

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The article “Scientists and farmers to rescue the King of tomatoes” on Rai3 National TV Channel seems to be the first on Re Fiascone.

How much research work hides behind a product such as our King Umberto? What is the story of this marvelous vegetable, a fundamental ingredient for most of the dishes of the local tradition? How was it possible to save this ancient tomato dated 1878 from extinction? In this video shot by the American videomaker Tyler Rowland (“More Hands on Deck”), we will give you an overview of our work.

2016 has been the beginning of the production of Re Fiascone tomato, after a first experimental phase. If you want to contribute to the rebirth of neglected terraces of the Amalfi Coast and give a new and strong future to this project by helping the local “guardians of biodiversity”, you can purchase the tomato jars writing to info@refiascone.it. You will discover the true forgotten flavours of the past.

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The article A video about how the ancient King Umberto tomato was saved seems to be the first on Re Fiascone.