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Rows of tomato plants trained up strings inside a bright glass greenhouse

Photo: Erwan Hesry / Unsplash

Great food starts before the kitchen.

Phytofed shows how growing, choosing, storing and cooking ingredients shapes their flavour, colour, nutritional value and environmental impact.

For chefs, growers, nutrition professionals and curious cooks.

One ingredient. A chain of decisions.

Every ingredient carries the effects of variety, soil, season, harvest, storage and heat. Phytofed connects those stages so you can see which decisions genuinely matter.

01Grown
02Harvested
03Stored
04Prepared
05Cooked
06Served

Start with what is in front of you.

Choose an ingredient to explore where it came from, what its colour reveals, how to judge its quality and what happens when you cook it.

Heirloom tomatoes in red, orange, yellow and purple, sorted into a harvest crate with a box of cherry tomatoes

Photo: Serghey Savchuk / Unsplash

From field to plate: the tomato

Explore how variety, ripeness, season, storage and heat change the flavour, texture and chemistry of a tomato.

Growing and sourcingSeason and ripenessColour and chemistryStorageCooking techniquesRecipes

The tomato is our first complete ingredient page. Every ingredient on Phytofed will receive the same field-to-plate treatment.

Colour Has Chemistry

Plant colours come from compounds involved in ripening, flavour and plant defence. Explore what colour can tell us about an ingredient—and what it cannot.

Red
Orange & yellow
Green
Blue & purple
White & brown

Keep the quality.

Small decisions in storage, preparation and cooking can change flavour, texture, colour and the compounds that reach the plate.

Put the knowledge on the plate.

Recipes built around excellent ingredients, intelligent technique and flavour—with the science explained alongside the method.

One food system. Different perspectives.

This season at Phytofed

This section is being prepared. Each item below is a placeholder awaiting editorial review — seasonality is regional, so every entry will name its region and season explicitly.

Editorial placeholder

Seasonal ingredient

Seasonal ingredient — to be confirmed

One ingredient chosen for the season, with where it grows, what to look for and how to cook it.

Season
To be confirmed
Region
To be confirmed
Published
Not yet published
Review status
Awaiting editorial review
Editorial placeholder

Practical technique

Practical kitchen technique — to be confirmed

One practical technique to try this month, with the reasoning behind it.

Season
To be confirmed
Region
To be confirmed
Published
Not yet published
Review status
Awaiting editorial review
Editorial placeholder

Evidence note

Evidence or research note — to be confirmed

A short update on what current evidence supports, and where it remains uncertain.

Season
To be confirmed
Region
To be confirmed
Published
Not yet published
Review status
Awaiting editorial review
Editorial placeholder

Featured dish

Featured dish — to be confirmed

One dish that puts this month's ideas on the plate.

Season
To be confirmed
Region
To be confirmed
Published
Not yet published
Review status
Awaiting editorial review

Evidence without exaggeration.

Phytofed translates food and agricultural research into practical guidance. We explain what the evidence supports, where it remains uncertain and how it applies in real kitchens.

How we label evidence

Well established

Widely accepted, consistently reproduced food science.

Supported by human research

Findings from studies conducted in people.

Emerging evidence

Early findings — interpret with care.

Mechanistic or laboratory evidence

Observed in controlled settings; effects in real diets may differ.