What Does Ketchup Look Like Under a Microscope?

Have you ever wondered what’s in ketchup? I mean, yeah, you can read the ingredient list, but it’s all mixed together. Under a microscope ketchup is it’s own world. I used a 1% methylene blue solution to get a better look.

At 1500 times zoom, you can see tomato fragments which look like dark blue irregular shapes with fibrous edges showing where the tomato broke down. You can also see clear, round, droplets of oil/vinegar mixture and tiny microbes like yeast or bacteria which are stained deep blue. The itty bitty bright white particles are starches that are mixed throughout the ketchup.

And here we have a vinegar crystal that is forming out of some tomato fragments. The crystals are long and needle shaped and clear since they don’t absorb the dye. And the tomato fragment is that black mass. 

You can also see this amazing bright yellow honeycomb structure which is the cell walls in the tomato fragment.

And these red dots are called lycopene, which is an antioxidant that gives tomatoes, watermelon and grapefruit their red coloring.

Pretty wild, huh? Ketchup is more than just a condiment, it’s a mix of plant cells, crystals and even tiny bits of life.

What should I look at next?