Tomato juice
Encyclopedia
Juice
Juice is the liquid that is naturally contained in fruit or vegetable tissue.Juice is prepared by mechanically squeezing or macerating fruit or vegetable flesh without the application of heat or solvents. For example, orange juice is the liquid extract of the fruit of the orange tree...
made from tomato
Tomato
The word "tomato" may refer to the plant or the edible, typically red, fruit which it bears. Originating in South America, the tomato was spread around the world following the Spanish colonization of the Americas, and its many varieties are now widely grown, often in greenhouses in cooler...
es. It is usually used as a beverage
Drink
A drink, or beverage, is a liquid which is specifically prepared for human consumption. In addition to fulfilling a basic human need, beverages form part of the culture of human society.-Water:...
, either plain or in cocktail
Cocktail
A cocktail is an alcoholic mixed drink that contains two or more ingredients—at least one of the ingredients must be a spirit.Cocktails were originally a mixture of spirits, sugar, water, and bitters. The word has come to mean almost any mixed drink that contains alcohol...
s such as a Bloody Mary
Bloody Mary (cocktail)
A Bloody Mary is a popular cocktail containing vodka, tomato juice, and usually other spices or flavorings such as Worcestershire sauce, Peri-Peri Sauce, Tabasco sauce, beef consomme or bouillon, horseradish, celery, olive, salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper, lemon juice, and celery salt...
or Michelada
Michelada
Michelada is a Mexican cerveza preparada made with beer, lime juice, tomato juice , and assorted sauces, spices, and peppers can be added for a Chelada . It is served in a chilled, salt-rimmed glass. There are numerous variations of this beverage throughout Mexico and Latin America.In Mexico,...
.
History
Tomato juice was first served as a beverage in 1917 by Edgar Berman at the French Lick Springs HotelFrench Lick Resort Casino
French Lick Resort is a resort complex located in the towns of West Baden and French Lick, Indiana. The complex includes two historic resort spa hotels, stables, a casino and three golf courses, all part of a $500 million restoration and development project....
in southern Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
, when he ran out of orange juice and needed a quick substitute. His combination of squeezed tomatoes, sugar and his special sauce became an instant success as Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
businessmen spread the word about the tomato juice cocktail.
Production
Many commercial manufacturers of tomato juice also add saltSalt
In chemistry, salts are ionic compounds that result from the neutralization reaction of an acid and a base. They are composed of cations and anions so that the product is electrically neutral...
. Other ingredients are also often added, such as onion
Onion
The onion , also known as the bulb onion, common onion and garden onion, is the most widely cultivated species of the genus Allium. The genus Allium also contains a number of other species variously referred to as onions and cultivated for food, such as the Japanese bunching onion The onion...
powder, garlic
Garlic
Allium sativum, commonly known as garlic, is a species in the onion genus, Allium. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chive, and rakkyo. Dating back over 6,000 years, garlic is native to central Asia, and has long been a staple in the Mediterranean region, as well as a frequent...
powder, and other spice
Spice
A spice is a dried seed, fruit, root, bark, or vegetative substance used in nutritionally insignificant quantities as a food additive for flavor, color, or as a preservative that kills harmful bacteria or prevents their growth. It may be used to flavour a dish or to hide other flavours...
s. The tomato juice known to most people is always boiled and thus is not available as a fresh product.
Health benefits
A recent small scale study has indicated that tomato juice contains a factor (dubbed P3) that inhibits plateletPlatelet
Platelets, or thrombocytes , are small,irregularly shaped clear cell fragments , 2–3 µm in diameter, which are derived from fragmentation of precursor megakaryocytes. The average lifespan of a platelet is normally just 5 to 9 days...
s in blood
Blood
Blood is a specialized bodily fluid in animals that delivers necessary substances such as nutrients and oxygen to the cells and transports metabolic waste products away from those same cells....
from clumping together and forming blood clots. The authors suggest this might be beneficial to diabetes sufferers. The actual effect of increased intake of tomato juice by diabetics has never been studied.
Tomato juice also contains the antioxidant
Antioxidant
An antioxidant is a molecule capable of inhibiting the oxidation of other molecules. Oxidation is a chemical reaction that transfers electrons or hydrogen from a substance to an oxidizing agent. Oxidation reactions can produce free radicals. In turn, these radicals can start chain reactions. When...
lycopene
Lycopene
Lycopene is a bright red carotene and carotenoid pigment and phytochemical found in tomatoes and other red fruits and vegetables, such as red carrots, watermelons and papayas...
. Scientific studies have suggested that lycopene consumption may protect against prostate cancer, breast cancer, atherosclerosis, and coronary artery disease. Epidemiological research has also shown that lycopene may protect against breast cancer and myocardial infarction (heart attack).
Nutritional information
1 cup of canned tomato juice (243ml) contains the following nutritional information according to the USDA:- Calories : 41
- Fat: 0.12
- Carbohydrates: 10.30
- Fibers: 1
- Protein: 1.85
- Cholesterol: 0
Uses of tomato juice
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
and Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, tomato juice is popular mixed with beer
Beer
Beer is the world's most widely consumed andprobably oldest alcoholic beverage; it is the third most popular drink overall, after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of sugars, mainly derived from malted cereal grains, most commonly malted barley and malted wheat...
, the concoction is known in Canada as Calgary Red-Eye
Bloody Mary (cocktail)
A Bloody Mary is a popular cocktail containing vodka, tomato juice, and usually other spices or flavorings such as Worcestershire sauce, Peri-Peri Sauce, Tabasco sauce, beef consomme or bouillon, horseradish, celery, olive, salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper, lemon juice, and celery salt...
and in Mexico as Cerveza preparada
Cerveza preparada
Cerveza preparada is a Mexican term for beer mixed with tomato juice, hot sauce, or salsa. In English-speaking countries, it would be considered a variety of shandy.The drink dates back to the 1940s, when it became popular in Mexico....
. Tomato juice is the base for the cocktails Bloody Mary
Bloody Mary (cocktail)
A Bloody Mary is a popular cocktail containing vodka, tomato juice, and usually other spices or flavorings such as Worcestershire sauce, Peri-Peri Sauce, Tabasco sauce, beef consomme or bouillon, horseradish, celery, olive, salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper, lemon juice, and celery salt...
and Bloody Caesar, and the cocktail mixer Clamato
Clamato
Clamato is a drink made of reconstituted tomato juice concentrate flavored with spices and clam broth. Made by Mott's, the name is a portmanteau of "clam" and "tomato"...
.
Apart from the obvious use as a beverage, tomato juice's mild acid
Acid
An acid is a substance which reacts with a base. Commonly, acids can be identified as tasting sour, reacting with metals such as calcium, and bases like sodium carbonate. Aqueous acids have a pH of less than 7, where an acid of lower pH is typically stronger, and turn blue litmus paper red...
ity means that it can be used to clean up old coins or metal saucepans in much the same way as other acidic substances such as Coca Cola are used.
Tomato juice is frequently used as a packing
Packing
Packing may refer to:In Mechanical engineering:* Packing, also known as an O-ring or other type of Seal , a term for a sealing materialIn Chemical engineering:* Structured packing, i.e...
liquid for canned tomato
Canned tomato
Canned tomatoes, or tinned tomatoes, are tomatoes, usually peeled, that are sealed into a can after having been processed by heat.-Variants:...
es, though it is sometimes replaced by tomato puree
Tomato purée
The definitions of tomato purée vary from country to country. In the USA, tomato purée is a processed food product, usually consisting of only tomatoes, but can also be found in seasoned form...
for international commerce due to tariff issues on vegetables vs. sauces. According to Cook's Illustrated
Cook's Illustrated
Cook's Illustrated is an American cooking magazine published by America's Test Kitchen in Brookline, Massachusetts, every two months. It accepts no advertising and is characterized by extensive recipe testing and detailed instructions; the magazine also conducts thorough evaluations of kitchen...
magazine, tomatoes packed in juice as opposed to puree tend to win taste tests, being perceived as fresher tasting.
The juice is also thought to be an effective cleaning agent against skunk
Skunk
Skunks are mammals best known for their ability to secrete a liquid with a strong, foul odor. General appearance varies from species to species, from black-and-white to brown or cream colored. Skunks belong to the family Mephitidae and to the order Carnivora...
musk. Its effectiveness was tested on MythBusters
MythBusters
MythBusters is a science entertainment TV program created and produced by Beyond Television Productions for the Discovery Channel. The series is screened by numerous international broadcasters, including Discovery Channel Australia, Discovery Channel Latin America, Discovery Channel Canada, Quest...
and it was found to be "Plausible", though it may only work to mask the smell.
Tomato juice is used in the preparation of tomato juice agar
Agar
Agar or agar-agar is a gelatinous substance derived from a polysaccharide that accumulates in the cell walls of agarophyte red algae. Throughout history into modern times, agar has been chiefly used as an ingredient in desserts throughout Asia and also as a solid substrate to contain culture medium...
, used to culture various species of Lactobacillus
Lactobacillus
Lactobacillus is a genus of Gram-positive facultative anaerobic or microaerophilic rod-shaped bacteria. They are a major part of the lactic acid bacteria group, named as such because most of its members convert lactose and other sugars to lactic acid. They are common and usually benign...
.
In popular culture
- It is the official state beverage of OhioOhioOhio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
. - In the VeggieTalesVeggieTalesVeggieTales is an American series of children's computer animated films featuring anthropomorphic vegetables in stories conveying moral themes based on Christianity...
episode "Moe and the Big ExitMoe and the Big ExitMoe and the Big Exit is the 31st episode in the VeggieTales series and is only available on DVD. Its lesson is on following directions. It is the first VeggieTales episode of 2007....
," Moe turns the river into tomato juice, which is a plague upon Dodgeball City. - Dante, the main character from the Devil May CryDevil May Cryis an action game developed and published by Capcom, released in 2001 for the PlayStation 2. Although it is the first game in the series of the same name, the events in Devil May Cry are second in the series storyline's chronological order, taking place after Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening and...
franchise, primarily drinks tomato juice. This is most notable in the manga. - In a Tiny Toon AdventuresTiny Toon AdventuresSteven Spielberg Presents Tiny Toon Adventures, usually referred to as Tiny Toon Adventures or simply Tiny Toons, is an American animated television series created by Tom Ruegger and produced by Amblin Entertainment and Warner Bros. Animation. It began production as a result of Warner Bros....
episode "Out of Odor", tomato juice is used to remove Fifi La Fume's smell.