Bill Handel

Bill Handel

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Coming to a Grocery Store Near You: Purple Tomatoes

The USDA has greenlit a genetically modified purple tomato, clearing the way for the fruit to be sold next year.

The tomato was developed by a team of scientists, including Cathie Martin, a British biochemist.

Martin had spent 20 years working on pigment production in flowers, one of those being anthocyanins.

Anthocyanin is what gives blueberries, blackberries and eggplants their blue-purple color and are rich in antioxidants.

With funding she received from a German consortium, she engineered tomatoes with the pigment and along with her team created the purple tomato you see above.

With the added antioxidants these tomatoes have major health benefits, though apparently taste the same as their red counterparts.

The tomatoes will hit test markets sometime next year.


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