Genetically Modified Anthocyanin-Rich Purple Tomatoes

Two years ago (almost exactly to the date!), I wrote about anthocyanin-rich purple tomatoes. I can’t locate the stories I linked to anymore, but at the time, Oregon State University researchers were still perfecting the breed of red-purple tomato that is rich in both lycopene (red pigment) and anthocyanin (purple pigment).

So it comes as a surprise reading about genetically modified purple tomatoes on BBC News (original press release from John Innes Center). Apparently an entirely different group of scientists have created the tomatoes by incorporating genes from the snapdragon flower, which is high in anthocyanin. The result is a new breed of tomatoes that are intensely purple in color, and contains higher levels of anthocyanin than has ever been reported before for engineered tomatoes, comparable to the anthocyanin levels found in blackberries and blueberries. The resulting tomatoes were also reported to have a threefold increase in antioxidant capacity. The scientists went as far as conducting a pilot animal study and demonstrated that cancer-susceptible mice fed a diet supplemented with these tomatoes showed a significant extension of life span.

Amazing. Impressive.

But how do these tomatoes fare with the red-purple tomatoes of two years ago that were a product of traditional breeding methods? If the anthocyanin levels are comparable, I think I’d rather have those than tomatoes genetically engineered to carry genes from a funeral flower.

Image: John Innes Center