TITLE:
The Relationship between Consumption, Socioeconomic Level and Reasons of Tomato Intake in Mexico
AUTHORS:
Mariana Lares-Michel, Fatima Ezzahra Housni, Virginia Gabriela Aguilera Cervantes, Rosa María Michel Nava, Humberto Bracamontes Del Toro, Claudia Llanes Cañedo, María del Carmen Barragán Carmona
KEYWORDS:
Tomato, Consumption, Socioeconomic Level, Motives of Consumption, Zapotlan El Grande
JOURNAL NAME:
Agricultural Sciences,
Vol.9 No.7,
July
11,
2018
ABSTRACT: The red tomato has been associated to Mexico throughout history. This vegetable is native to the New World and was domesticated in Mesoamerica, before its arrival to Europe. It has always been of great cultural importance in Mexicans diet and of great economic value. Currently, Mexico is the first tomato exporter in the world. However, its marketing affects its price and availability and can harm consumption. Then, due to the cultural role of this vegetable, it is interesting to analyze the relationship between consumption, socioeconomic status and tomato intake reasons in the case of Zapotlan el Grande, Jalisco, Mexico. For this reason, a Food Consumption Frequency Questionnaire (FCFQ) was applied to 384 adults from 18 to 65 years old, which included classification of socioeconomic level and consumption reasons. The results showed that the tomato was ingested by more than 90% of the population, with an average frequency of 21.66 ± 10.57 times per month and 114.68 daily grams per capita. For the relationship between socioeconomic level and intake reasons, it was found that there was an impact of monthly income, occupation and gastronomy on the intake of this vegetable.