LONDON, May 3 (Xinhua) -- Scientists have found that cooked tomatoes contain a vital ingredient that could help in the fight against cardiovascular disease, according to the latest report on the Website Alpha Galileo.

    The potential health-giving properties of tomatoes relate to the lycopene they contain and its role as an antioxidant, the Website quoted scientists from Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU)'s Nutraceutical Research Group as saying.

    However, for the lycopene to become available to the human body,tomatoes must be cooked, preferably in some form of oil, the scientists said.

    They are assessing different ways of cooking tomatoes to see which method maximizes the lycopene availability.

    Cardiovascular disease is one of the biggest killers in the United Kingdom, accounting for one in three deaths in the country every year.

    The LJMU is the only institution in the UK involved in the 5.2-million-euro (about 6.6 million U.S. dollars) research program to investigate the health-giving properties of cooked tomatoes. Enditem