Tomato Coloring Pages

Red color keeps the doctor away! A popular veggie full of good things

Tomato is a nightshade plant and a popular veggie packed with good things like vitamins and lycopene. Because it is so good for you, an old saying in Europe goes, "When Tomato turns red, the doctor turns blue!" People enjoy it in many ways, like eating it raw in salads, cooking it in stews, or drinking it as juice.

Where its name and lycopene come from

Tomato first came from the Andes mountains in South America. It came to Japan in the Edo period, but people only used it as a plant to look at back then. In the Meiji period, it came from Europe and America again as food, and then it spread all over Japan.

• Lycopene: The bright red color of Tomato comes from a color component called lycopene. Lycopene is famous for its strong antioxidant power, which helps protect your body from aging and illnesses like cancer.
• Umami: Tomato has plenty of glutamic acid, an umami taste component also found in kelp. It makes your cooking taste extra deep and yummy.

In season and types

You can get Tomato all year round because people grow it in greenhouses, but its real season is summer.

• Best season: People say it tastes best from spring to early summer. Places that grow Tomato in Japan are split into two groups. One is winter-spring Tomato picked in warm months (mostly in Kumamoto, Aichi, and Tochigi). The other is summer-autumn Tomato picked in cool months (mostly in Hokkaido, Ibaraki, and Fukushima).
• Large Tomato: This is the kind you usually see at the supermarket. It is split into pink type and red type. The "Momotaro" Tomato is a popular pink type for eating fresh, with a great mix of sweet and sour taste.
• Cherry Tomato: It has way more good things than large Tomato! For example, it has about 3 times more lycopene and about 3 times more vitamin C.
• Fruit Tomato: Farmers use special tricks, like giving it less water and fertilizer, to pack in the sweet taste. It tastes sweet just like fruit!

Lots of good things and ways to eat

Tomato has a great balance of many good things your body needs.

• Vitamin C: If you take a bite of one whole Tomato, you can get about 1/4 of the vitamin C you need in a day! It helps keep your skin pretty and stops you from getting sick.
• Pectin: This is a soluble fiber found in the skin. It lowers the cholesterol level in your blood and helps your blood flow smoothly.
• Taking in lycopene: Lycopene holds up well against heat. When you cook it with oil, your body can take in more lycopene than when you eat it raw! If you want to get lots of lycopene, cooking it in oil or making it into sauce is a great idea.

How to choose colors: Let's try the "red" of lycopene!

When you color Tomato, the trick is to show off its bright, yummy red and its shiny skin.

• Basic colors: Color the whole thing in bright red nicely and evenly.
• Colors by type:
  • Large Tomato: When you color the popular pink type that people eat raw, try mixing a little white or light pink into your red. It makes the skin look nice and thin!
  • Cherry Tomato: If you color it with dark red or reddish-brown, it will look super sweet and full of flavor!
• Stem color: If you color the stem dark green with a fresh and lively color that doesn't look wilted, your Tomato will look fresh and delicious!

How to color: Make Tomato glossy and 3D so it looks juicy!

If you give your Tomato a round shape and a fresh, juicy shine, it will look just like a real one!

• Expressing the shine: Leave a white spot or add a light pink glow inside the area you colored with dark red, as if light is hitting it. These highlights look like a shine and make Tomato look juicy and fresh.
• 3D look: Add shadows with dark red or red-purple to the parts where light does not hit, like the bottom of Tomato or under the stem. This will make it look round and 3D.
• Lines on the bottom: Draw white lines that spread out like a star on the bottom of Tomato (the side opposite the stem). This makes it look like a delicious Tomato that is packed with goodness.

Hints to help you enjoy your coloring page!

• Express yourself freely!
  • Yellow, orange, and black—there are many different kinds of Tomato! It is fun to use your favorite colors and make a colorful Tomato coloring page. Let’s express yourself freely!
• Draw some tasty dishes, too!
  • Think about your favorite Tomato dishes, like salad, meat sauce, or tomato juice, and try drawing a background or other ingredients! It will make your picture come alive!