What Vitamins Does Tomato Have? | Nutrients In Every Slice

A tomato looks simple, but it brings a tidy mix of vitamins into salads, sandwiches, sauces, and soups. This page answers the vitamin question first, then shows what each vitamin does in the body, what a serving gives you, and how prep choices shift what ends up on your plate.

Numbers in this article use raw, red, ripe tomato nutrient values listed in USDA FoodData Central’s tomato entries. Exact amounts vary by variety, ripeness, and serving size, so treat the tables as a solid baseline instead of a guarantee for every tomato you buy.

What Vitamins Does Tomato Have? A Practical Breakdown

Most tomatoes share the same “headline” vitamins. Vitamin C usually leads the pack, followed by vitamin A activity from carotenoids, then vitamin K and folate. You’ll see vitamin E and vitamin B6 in smaller doses, along with a few other B vitamins that show up in trace-to-modest levels.

Here’s the quick way to think about it: tomatoes bring a steady splash of water-soluble vitamins (like vitamin C and folate) and a lighter dose of fat-soluble vitamins (like A, K, and E). Water-soluble vitamins can drop with long heat and lots of cooking water. Fat-soluble vitamins hold up better to heat, and they absorb better when a meal includes some fat, like olive oil or avocado.

Vitamin C In Tomatoes

Vitamin C is the one most people associate with produce. It helps the body make collagen, aids wound healing, and improves iron absorption from plant foods. If you’re pairing tomatoes with beans, lentils, or spinach, vitamin C is part of why that combo works well.

If you want the official daily intake tables and label DVs, the NIH Office of Dietary Supplements keeps them current. The NIH ODS vitamin C fact sheet lays out intake levels, food sources, and upper limits.

Vitamin A Activity From Carotenoids

Tomatoes don’t carry preformed vitamin A like liver or dairy. They carry carotenoids, including beta-carotene, that the body can convert into vitamin A activity. This matters for vision, immune function, and normal skin and tissue turnover.

Nutrition labels in the U.S. report vitamin A as micrograms RAE (retinol activity equivalents). If you want the conversion math and DV basis, the NIH ODS vitamin A and carotenoids fact sheet explains how RAE works.

Vitamin K In Tomatoes

Vitamin K helps the body form normal blood clots and plays a part in bone health. Tomatoes are not the top vitamin K food on the menu, but they can add up across a day if you eat them often.

Vitamin K is a “watch item” for anyone using warfarin, since stable vitamin K intake matters. The NIH ODS vitamin K fact sheet covers intake targets and interactions.

Folate And The Other B Vitamins

Tomatoes provide folate in modest amounts. Folate helps with DNA and red blood cell formation, which is why it gets extra attention in pregnancy planning. Tomatoes also contain small amounts of vitamin B6, thiamin (B1), riboflavin (B2), and niacin (B3). These B vitamins help the body process food into energy and keep nerves and blood healthy.

Food labels in the U.S. list folate as mcg DFE (dietary folate equivalents). The NIH ODS folate fact sheet explains DFE and daily values.

Serving Size Matters More Than Most People Think

A tomato’s vitamin total rises or falls with how much you eat. A few slices on a burger will not match a full bowl of chopped tomatoes. Cherry tomatoes can add up fast because they’re easy to snack on. Tomato paste is dense, so a couple spoonfuls can bring a larger nutrient hit than the same weight of raw slices.

When you read any nutrition table, ask two simple questions: “What is the serving size?” and “Is this raw, cooked, canned, or concentrated?” That small detail changes the story.

Where The Numbers And Daily Values Come From

Tomato vitamin amounts in the table come from USDA FoodData Central’s tomato search results, which lists nutrient values by food and serving unit.

Daily intake tables and label daily values come from the NIH Office of Dietary Supplements pages for vitamin C intake levels, vitamin A and carotenoids (RAE units), and folate (DFE units).

Vitamin Snapshot From Raw Tomato Data

The table below uses raw tomato nutrient amounts per 100 grams. That’s a clean, standard unit used in food databases, so you can scale it up or down to match your portion. If you weigh your tomatoes once or twice, you’ll get a feel for what 100 grams looks like in your kitchen.

Vitamin	Amount Per 100 g Raw Tomato	Label %DV
Vitamin C	13.7 mg	15%
Vitamin A (RAE)	42 mcg	5%
Vitamin K (phylloquinone)	7.9 mcg	7%
Folate (DFE)	15 mcg	4%
Vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol)	0.54 mg	4%
Vitamin B6	0.08 mg	5%
Thiamin (B1)	0.04 mg	3%
Riboflavin (B2)	0.02 mg	2%
Niacin (B3)	0.59 mg	4%

How Cooking Changes Tomato Vitamins

Tomatoes are one of those foods that eat well raw and cooked. The vitamin picture shifts with heat, time, and liquid. Vitamin C is heat sensitive, so long simmering can lower it. On the flip side, cooking can raise access to carotenoids like lycopene and beta-carotene by breaking down plant cell walls, so the body may take in more of those compounds from cooked tomato dishes.

Two kitchen moves make a real difference: keep cook times reasonable, and think about where the cooking liquid goes. If you simmer tomatoes into a sauce and eat the sauce, nutrients stay in the pot. If you boil tomato pieces and drain the water, you pour out water-soluble vitamins with that liquid.

Raw Tomatoes

Raw tomatoes keep vitamin C in better shape. They’re also easy to pair with fats that help absorb carotenoids. A simple salad with tomatoes and olive oil is doing more than tasting good.

Cooked Tomatoes And Sauces

Sauce, stew, and roasted tomatoes trade some vitamin C for a different payoff: more usable carotenoids. Add a bit of fat during cooking or at the table, and the body can absorb those fat-soluble compounds more easily.

Which Tomato Products Give The Most Vitamins

Not every tomato food is the same. Fresh tomatoes shine in salads and quick meals. Canned tomatoes can be a smart pantry pick, since they’re packed at ripeness and make weeknight cooking easier. Tomato paste is concentrated, so it can raise totals for some nutrients per spoonful, while sodium can be higher in some canned products.

If you rely on a specific product, read the label for serving size and sodium. If you want lower sodium canned tomatoes, many brands sell “no salt added” versions.

Tomato Vitamins And Daily Needs With Real Meals

Tomatoes rarely act alone on a plate. They’re part of a meal pattern. Here are a few ways their vitamin mix fits into everyday eating:

• With beans or lentils: Vitamin C from tomatoes helps the body absorb non-heme iron.
• With leafy greens: You stack vitamins A and K from greens with the vitamin C and carotenoids from tomatoes.
• With eggs or fish: Protein plus tomatoes can make a filling breakfast or lunch without heavy prep.
• With olive oil: Fat helps with uptake of carotenoids that carry vitamin A activity.

When Tomatoes Matter More

If your diet leans low on fruit and vegetables, tomatoes can help close gaps in vitamin C and carotenoids. If you already eat a wide spread of produce, tomatoes still add variety and make it easier to keep meals colorful and satisfying.

Simple Prep Moves That Keep More Vitamins

Tomatoes don’t need fancy handling. Small, steady habits keep more nutrients in your food and keep flavor high at the same time.

Prep Choice	What It Does	Kitchen Note
Slice right before eating	Reduces time vitamin C sits exposed to air	Cut, season, serve
Use gentle heat for sauce	Limits vitamin C loss from long simmering	Stop when it tastes cooked, not tired
Keep the liquid	Holds water-soluble vitamins in the dish	Soups and stews keep what boiling can drain
Add a fat source	Helps the body absorb carotenoids	Olive oil, cheese, nuts, or avocado work
Store whole when possible	Slows nutrient loss from cut surfaces	Cut only what you’ll use
Choose ripe tomatoes	Riper fruit often has deeper color and more carotenoids	Look for full color and a tomato smell

Safety Notes And Common Questions People Ask In The Store

Green shoulders and pale spots: Uneven ripening changes taste more than vitamins. Trim off tough bits if you dislike the texture.

Seeds and skin: Most of the edible parts carry nutrients. Skins contain some phytonutrients, so peeling is a taste choice, not a vitamin requirement.

Allergies and reflux: Some people react to acidic foods. If tomatoes bother you, smaller servings or cooked sauces can feel gentler.

Picking Tomatoes That Taste Good And Bring More Nutrients

Vitamin content rides with ripeness and storage. A tomato that’s fully colored and fragrant tends to taste better, so people eat more of it, and that alone changes vitamin intake.

At the store

• Choose tomatoes with even color and no deep cracks.
• Check for a fresh smell near the stem end.
• Skip tomatoes with wide soft spots that feel wet.

At home

• Keep unripe tomatoes at room temperature until they color up.
• Once ripe, use them within a few days for best texture.
• If you refrigerate ripe tomatoes, bring them back to room temperature before eating for better flavor.

Tomatoes Are Not A Multivitamin, And That’s Fine

Tomatoes bring a useful spread of vitamins, but no single food hits every need. Think of tomatoes as a reliable piece of the puzzle: they add vitamin C, carotenoids that count toward vitamin A activity, and smaller amounts of vitamin K, folate, vitamin E, and B vitamins. Pair them with other produce, whole grains, and proteins, and you build meals that feel good and reach more nutrient ground.