According to a recently published study in the American Society for Microbiology journal Microbiology Spectrum, the antimicrobial properties of tomato juice can kill Salmonella Typhi, a pathogen that causes typhoid fever and is frequently spread by contaminated water.
During the study, the researchers tested four antimicrobial peptides in fresh-ground tomato juice against S. Typhi. Two of the four peptides (tdAMP-1 and tdAMP-2) were found to be effective at inactivating the pathogen, with a notable reduction in colony-forming units of S. Typhi at two hours following incubation vs. the control group treated with phosphate-buffered saline. S. Typhi was effectively eliminated by the tomato juice within a 24-hour period. The team also conducted tests on S. Typhi variants that appear in places where typhoid fever is commonly found, and found it to be effective against drug-resistant, acapsular, and hypervirulent variants.