The word “ketchup” comes from a Chinese word ke-tsiap which is a sauce similar to the one gained from fermented soy seed. This sauce became popular in Malaysia where it has remained known under the name it still carries today. In the 17th century, the same Chinese food supplement was discovered by English sailors and the word “ketchup” appeared, in its written form, for the first time in the West around 1690. Ketchup was first produced from strained tomatoes in the western part of the world in the 18th century but those first ketchup products were rare and in fact nothing like the ones we know today.
Tomatoes are an excellent source of the lycopene phytochemical to which it owes its red color. Lycopene has been scientifically proven to have a protective role when it comes to numerous diseases, especially in the prevention of heart diseases, and this carotenoid is found in tomatoes and all their products. It is interesting to mention that lycopene absorption is facilitated when the molecule resolves in fat – in other words, cooking in oil emphasized its beneficial effects.
Apart from lycopene, tomatoes also contain vitamins C and A. These antioxidants travel through our organism and neutralize the harmful effect of dangerous free radicals which can cause cell and cell membrane damage.
