Antioxidant-Rich PurpleTomatoes

Filed in archive Food and Agriculture on October 26, 2006

It might take a couple more years, but two independent groups of researchers are on the final stages of releasing a breed of tomatoes that are not only unusual in color (purple as an eggplant), but may also be more functional.

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, also an antioxidant.

As a result, the new hybrid potentially offers the best of both worlds.

The purple tomato is a result of decades of breeding a wild type found in South America with modern hybrids. Read the full feature report from the Statesman Journal. More about the health potential of purple tomatoes from the Oregon State Unviersity.