Male mice fed a diet of 10% tomato powder daily for 35 weeks, then exposed to ultraviolet light, experienced a 50% average decrease in skin cancer compared to mice that ate no dehydrated tomato.
Tomatoes are a source of carotenoids, one of which is lycopene, which may protect skin against UV-induced DNA damage. However, in this study, higher lycopene tomato variants didn't show a greater effect than lower lycopene-containing variants, which suggests that there are compounds in tomatoes other than lycopene that contribute to the protective effect. teal color pieces for formal occasion
