I take a couple of sandwiches to work - typically tuna or chicken salad spread. Also add tomatoes, etc. To save time, I'd like to just dice the tomatoes up for a few day's worth, put them in a bag, squeeze the air out and put them in my freezer no longer than four days. Then I put what is needed and the 6-8 hours in my car they will thaw out. Does that degrade the nutritional value much?
I'm not sure it would affect the nutritional value, however, definitely will affect the palatability factor! If you freeze the tomatoes and then thaw them, they will have a very mushy texture, and are a poor substitute for fresh, unless you don't mind mushy. Also, at the point you thaw them out, if there is any amount of juice, the pulp and juice seperate out. Usually, frozen tomatoes are good only for cooking. Although, with summer on the way in North Texas (just not today!), 6 to 8 hours in your car for thawing out could count as cooking.....
If it's going to be no more than 4 days, I think just refrigeration will be fine. Still not as good as fresh, but then ice crystals won't be changing the texture.
