Tomato Powder

Ripe red fruit of Solanum lycopersicum are sliced, dried in warm air and milled to 80 mesh to give tomato powder. The powder is red and tastes sweet, tangy and savory, with the concentrated umami character of cooked tomato. Leaves, stems and green fruit of the plant are not used.

Botanically a berry and culinary a vegetable, the tomato is dried here in its whole ripe form. The powder keeps the skin, seed fragments, sugars, acids and lycopene of the fruit, with no carrier and no juice separation.

SKU: BOT-VPO-0013 Category: Vegetable Powders Tags: Bars & Bakery, Dehydrated Powder, Fruit & Berry, Plant-Based Foods, Seasonings & Flavors, Seasonings & Sauces, Tomato, Vegetable Powders

Dehydrated Tomato Processing

The species is Solanum lycopersicum L., the cultivated tomato, a perennial grown as an annual and a member of the nightshade family (Solanaceae). Wild relatives such as Solanum pimpinellifolium are the currant tomato, and potato, eggplant and pepper are other nightshade crops. The part used is the ripe fruit. Leaves and green stems of the plant carry alkaloids and are not food ingredients.

The raw material is fresh ripe tomato. Fruit is washed, sliced or diced and dried in warm air, then ground into powder. Drying concentrates sugars, acids and amino acids into a savory, almost sun-dried flavor. Hot-air drying also deepens the red toward brick, because lycopene is partly isomerized and oxidized at elevated temperature.

Processing tomatoes are not the same as fresh-market tomatoes. Varieties bred for processing have thick walls, firm flesh, lower water content and high solids, and they ripen together for mechanical harvest. A powder made from such fruit yields more per unit of fresh weight and a more uniform color than one made from table tomatoes.

Tomatoes are harvested at full red ripeness, since color and flavor do not improve after picking. Late-season fruit from hot, dry fields is sweeter and richer in pigment. Varieties are not named for this powder, which is described by its shade and taste.

Tomato Color, Flavor & Composition

Tomato powder is red with an orange undertone. Lycopene gives the red color, and it is a fat-soluble carotenoid, so the powder disperses in water as a red-orange cloud. Beta-carotene adds the orange note. The flavor is tangy-sweet and strongly savory, because the glutamic acid naturally present in tomato rises sharply when water is removed.

Characteristic constituents are sugars, citric and malic acids, free glutamate, lycopene and other carotenoids, and fiber. No figure is given for any of them. Lycopene is also sold as a separate high-purity compound, and tomato powder is not defined by it.

Tomato powder reads differently from tomato paste. Paste is wet and cooked in a kettle, while the powder is dried at lower temperature and carries a fresher, sweeter tomato note with less of the caramelized taste of a long reduction.

Form	What It Is	Choose It When
Dehydrated Tomato Powder	Hot-air dried and milled whole fruit	A savory, whole-fruit tomato flavor is wanted
Tomato Juice Powder	Spray-dried juice on a carrier	A soluble, fiber-light tomato color is wanted
Freeze-Dried Tomato Powder	Whole fruit dried under vacuum	A fresher color and aroma matter most
Lycopene	Purified carotenoid compound	The pigment itself, not the vegetable, is specified

Typical Specifications

Specification Item	Product Information
Latin Name	Solanum lycopersicum
Plant Part	Fruit & Berry
Processing	Dehydrated
Common Name	Tomato
Raw Material	Fresh tomato fruit
Ingredient Type	Dehydrated Vegetable Powder
Appearance	Red powder (natural color of the dried material)
Flavor	Tangy-sweet, savory, umami
Solubility / Dispersibility	Water Dispersible
Quality Parameters
Moisture (LOD)	≤8.0%
Particle Size	80 mesh
Heavy Metals	Lead ≤2 ppm · Arsenic ≤1 ppm · Cadmium ≤1 ppm · Mercury ≤0.1 ppm
Microbiology	TPC ≤10,000 cfu/g · Yeast & Mold ≤1,000 cfu/g · E. coli Negative · Salmonella Negative/25 g
Shelf Life	24 months in unopened original packaging, cool and dry storage

Application Areas

Pizza, Pasta and Sauce Bases

Dry sauce and pizza bases use tomato powder to build tomato flavor and red color without liquid paste. It rehydrates in hot water or oil, and the natural glutamate gives a savory depth that supports herbs and cheese in tomato-driven recipes.

Seasoning and Snack Dusts

Chips, popcorn and crackers are dusted with tomato powder for a tangy, savory coating. It blends with salt, onion and paprika, and the sugars in the powder brown quickly, so heat steps for the seasoned product are tested for color.

Soup and Instant Meal Mixes

Instant soups and noodle cups use tomato powder for acidity, sweetness and color. The fat-soluble pigment colors the oil layer in a cup, and the tang cuts richness, which is why it appears in cream-of-tomato style bases.

Bakery and Cracker Doughs

Savory crackers, breads and focaccia mixes use tomato powder for color and an umami note in the dough. Baking deepens the red toward brown, and the acid can slightly weaken gluten, so doses are balanced against dough strength.

Plant-Based Meat and Sauce Premixes

Plant-based burgers and meatballs use tomato powder for savory depth and red color. It supplies glutamate and tang to the matrix, and its fiber holds water, which helps keep the cooked product juicy and gives the interior a reddish, cooked-meat look.

Handling Notes

Tomato powder is highly hygroscopic because sugars, acids and amino compounds draw water. In humid air it turns tacky and sets into a hard, dark mass, and the damage starts at the surface of an open drum within a shift. Weigh in a dry room and reseal after each draw.

Lycopene is the stability concern for color. It oxidizes in light and air, and the red drifts toward brown, a process that is faster when the powder is warm. Opaque, sealed packaging and a cool store hold the color. In oil-rich blends the pigment migrates into fat, which deepens the shade of the oil phase.

Acid in the powder attacks bare iron and aluminum, so stainless steel or food-grade plastic tools are the right choice. Fine tomato dust also stains equipment red, and quick cleanup with warm water prevents the pigment from setting on plastic.

Because the powder is both acidic and sugary, it also reacts with other ingredients in a dry mix. Bicarbonate-based leavening can start to react once moisture is present, so tomato powder and leavening are kept apart in storage until the mix is wetted.

Packaging & Commercial Supply

Essencefield supports product evaluation, formulation trials, commercial orders, and ongoing ingredient supply. Packaging, storage, and shipping arrangements are determined by product characteristics, order quantity, stability requirements, and destination-market needs.

Supply Item	General Information
Sample	Available upon request for formulation, testing, and supplier evaluation
Order Quantities	100 g · 1 kg · 5 kg · 25 kg · 100 kg · 500 kg · Bulk
Sample Lead Time	Typically 5–7 days after sample confirmation
Production Lead Time	Typically 15–30 days after order and specification confirmation
Packaging	Suitable protective inner packaging with bags, cartons, drums, or other appropriate outer packaging
Storage	Store in tightly sealed, suitable protective packaging in a cool, dry environment. Protect from moisture, heat, and direct sunlight. Specific storage conditions follow the approved product specification.
Documentation	COA · Product Specification · TDS · SDS · Applicable declarations (as applicable)

Final order quantities, lead times, packaging, documentation, and shipping arrangements are confirmed according to the selected product and commercial requirements.