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When you buy a tomato product-a bottle of catsup, a can of tomato soup, or a jar of spaghetti sauce-you're paying the cost of removing that water. But thanks to ARS research by plant physiologist Merle Weaver at the Western Regional Research Center, in Albany California, tomorrow's tomatoes might have less water and more of the compounds called solids that processors condense at the factory. The concentrate, rich in fiber and natural sugars, becomes the starting point for tomato paste and most of the other tomato-based foods at your supermarket.

Photo by Scott Bauer.

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