A portable Raman spectrometer, a device used in very different fields such as metallurgy, archaeology and art, allows data to be obtained on the variation in the composition of tomatoes during various ripening phases, according to the results of a study conducted in the UPV/EHU’s Department of Analytical Chemistry. The portable Raman spectrometer is an instrument widely used across a range of sectors. It is a non-invasive technique that can be used, for example, to detect the pigments in a painting without extracting any samples, thus preserving the integrity of the work. In this case, a research team of the UPV/EHU used a Raman spectrometer for culinary research. According to Josu Trebolazabala, the author of the study, “It is about transferring this technology, which had a specific use, to the kitchen. Our idea was to come up with a tool that could help producers find out when their tomatoes have reached their optimum ripeness point. This is achieved without destroying the fruit.”