SUMMARY
In order to evaluate the effect of three types of cooking (sautéed, boiled, and roasted) on content of the bioactive compounds, and antioxidant activity in tomato, four treatments were established: sautéed, boiled, roasted, and control (without application of some cooking method). Once the treatments were applied, the physiochemical properties such as total soluble solids (TSS), titratable acidity (TA), and pH were evaluated as well as the lycopene content, ß-carotene, ascorbic acid, phenols and total flavonoids, and antioxidant activity in vitro by essays of 2-2-diphenil-1-picrylhydrazil (DPPH), and 2,2'-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazolino-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS). All the cooking methods increased the TSS and reduced the acidity of the fruit. By roasting, a higher concentration of ascorbic acid (58.10%) was retained, as compared to the control. A significant increased (P = 0.05) was observed in the concentration of carotenoids, and phenolic compounds in tomatoes due to the effect of the treatment sautéed, therefore a greater antioxidant activity. An inhibition of DPPH? radicals was found of 17.92%, and an antioxidant activity expressed as Trolox equivalents of 25.97 µM per g of fresh weight, as a result of the ABTS test. The boiling treatment caused a lixiviation effect of the bioactive compounds in the cooking media; therefore a smaller concentration was found. Sautéed was a better cooking method for tomatoes to obtain a higher concentration of antioxidant compounds.