09 Nov 2022 --- A study conducted by researchers at the Ohio State University, US, found that increasing dietary tomato consumption may increase the diversity of gut microbes. Published in Microbiology Spectrum, the two-week trial was conducted on young pigs, as their gastrointestinal tract is similar to the one of humans. Consuming a tomato-heavy diet showed the potential to modulate the gut microbiome. “This was our first investigation into how tomato consumption might affect the microbiome. We characterized which microbes are present and how their relative abundance has changed with this tomato intervention,” says Jessica Cooperstone, senior author and assistant professor of horticulture, crop science, food science and technology at the Ohio State University.
