Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

what specific part of tomato plant does glutathione is present??

Hi,

I am not really sure what your question is, but here is my attempt to answer the questions I think you may be trying to ask:

Here is a paper describing among other things increased levels of glutathione in people after eating more tomatoes:

http://caribbean.scielo.org/scielo.php? ... pt&nrm=iso

Here is a site that discusses glutathione content of various foods:

http://www.nutritionadvisor.com/glutathione_foods.php

Here is some general background on glutathione:

http://www.healthline.com/galecontent/glutathione

http://www.phytochemicals.info/phytoche ... thione.php


From what I can tell glutathione is present widely in plant and animal tissues. It seems to be an antioxident and is used by cells to help detoxify potentially toxic substances. In answer to your specific question, I have seen references to detecting glutathione in tomato roots, leaves, and fruit. In humans, eating glutathione seems to not increase the level in the human body much, but it is synthesized in the liver, and people seem to think that eating tomatoes raises the level of glutathione in humans. They think the lycopene in tomatoes is the source of the effect, but do not seems sure of this.

The following paper is very difficult to read, but has some interesting comments on the use and function of glutathione in plants and animals, along with some references which may be useful.

http://genomebiology.com/2002/3/3/reviews/3004

I hope I have answered your question. Thank you for asking it, as I had fun researching it for you.

Best regards,

Barrett Tomlinson