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["Brungardt, Sam" <Sam.Brungardt@state.mn.us>]

Title: purple tomatoes

       
Purple tomatoes to prevent heart disease, cancer
AP
Salem: Oregon State University researchers are fine-tuning a purple tomato, a new blend of colours and nutrients. The skin is as dark as an eggplant. But it doesn’t just look cool, it could be better for you.

The novel pigment contains the same phytochemical found in blueberries that is thought to reduce the risk of cancer and heart disease.

Six years in the making, the purple hybrid could hit salad plates in two years.

Genetic origins are not at issue. The purple tomato traces its roots to a wild species in South America, not a petri dish.

Jim Myers, the Oregon State professor overseeing the project, said he doesn’t see it changing the world, but it may entice gardeners to try it.

Although you can’t buy the hybrids yet, several got to sample them at the farmers markets, and a handful got a sneak peek at a local nursery in Salem.

Local tasters give mixed reviews, but researchers are working on a cross with the popular Sungold cherry tomatoes to boost the flavour. That hybrid won’t be ready for a few years.

Hundreds of years ago, explorers discovered purple tomatoes in the wild, but the species never made it to the table because the fruit was small and some were poisonous, as all tomatoes once were thought to be.

In the 1960s and 1970s, scientists collected seeds from purple tomatoes and bred them with modern hybrids, making them safe to eat.

The research lagged until Oregon State graduate student Carl Jones resumed the work in 2000 on a hunch about the tomatoes’ nutritional value.

Jones discovered that the purple tomato, unlike its red cousins, contained high levels of anthocyanins, a chemical found in dark fruit pigments such as blueberries and grapes that can act as an antioxidant.

The purple tomato also has red skin at the base, so it still contains lycopene, another antioxidant.

Oregon State developed the purple tomato to promote health, but it’s the colour that will draw the most fame, said Rose Marie Nichols McGee, the owner of Nichols Garden Nursery in Albany.

Gardeners and consumers seek out unusual produce colours such as orange cauliflower and purple carrots, she said.

“I think we respond to something that looks a little bit different,” she said. “It just catches our curiosity.”

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