The concept of growing crops for health rather than only for food or fi ber is becoming a major issue. Since standards of living have improved, food availability and connection between plant production practices and human health are launching new issues of dietary supplements, functional foods and plant-produced recombinant proteins. Consumption of fruits and vegetables is also benefi cial to human health since fruits reduce the risk of developing cancer and cardio-vascular diseases. Although tomato have for many years been bred and grown for food, the development and production of health-benefi cial tomatoes is of research interest. However the effect of production management practices, processing and storage conditions on quality and health aspect of tomato is not well-known. Tomato, Lycopersicum esculentum L., is one of the world’s major vegetables, with an excellent source of health-promoting compounds such as various nutrients, secondary metabolites, ß-carotene, lycopene, vitamins C and E, fl avonoids and various phenolic compounds. Dietary intake of tomato and tomato products containing lycopene have been shown to be associated with decreasing risk of cardiovascular diseases and certain types of cancer. Maximizing tomato fruit quality, nutritional contents and mentioned phytonutrient in tomato can be affected by (i) environmental factors such as radiation, temperature, humidity, atmospheric CO 2 , air pollutants, soil properties, water quality, mineral nutrition, salinity, mechanical and pest injuries; (ii) agricultural practices and cropping system, and (iii) genetics and seed genotype. The nutrition quality and human health related properties of tomato fruits, especially carotenoids, fl avonoids, phenols and antioxidant compounds, are strongly affected by light, temperature, air CO 2 content, air pollutants, water rate and availability, irrigation regim and system, salinity and other quality aspects of water, soil structure, soil physical and chemical characteristics, mineral and organic fertilizers and soil organic matter. Those quality values of tomato fruits are developing during ripening stages and thus ripening is a very important stage. Appropriate processing approach and post-harvest storage conditions can also give tomato a higher quality value. In most cases, organic production and low input systems produced tastier and more fl avoured fruits, containing higher lycopene, organic acids, phenolic and ascorbic acids, secondary metabolites, vitamin C and E compared to conventional tomato.

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