MUSEUM OF POSTNATURAL HISTORY
nutrition
superfood
This purple tomato has been genetically modified to improve its nutritional quality. Its deep purple color comes from high levels of anthocyanin. Anthocyanins are natural pigments found in plants, especially flowers and fruits, such as berries. They are notably known for their antioxidant properties, which are linked to a range of health benefits.
Officially known as “Del/Ros1”, the purple tomato was created by modifying a cherry tomato, the MicroTom variety, by inserting the Delila (Del) and Rosea1 (Ros1) genes from a flowering plant, the snapdragon (Antirrhinum majus). When these two genes are introduced and expressed in the tomato, the latter accumulates pigments in the skin and flesh, taking on a purple color.
Tomato Del/Ros 1N
Credit : Eugenio Butelli & Andrew Devis.
This “superfood” was first revealed to the world in 2008 by a team of researchers at the John Innes Centre in Norwich, Norfolk, England. The previous year, Norfolk Plant Sciences, a spin-off from the John Innes Centre and Sainsbury Laboratory, had been set up in order to commercialize it. Norfolk Plant Sciences' transgenic purple tomato has been recently approved by the US authorities. The seeds are now available for purchase by anyone. A packet of 10 seeds costs around $20.
However, the search for transgenic tomato varieties is nothing new. Back in the 1990s, the American company Calgene produced a transgenic tomato that stays firm longer, enabling it to be harvested at maturity, unlike ordinary tomatoes which are picked green to withstand transport. This tomato, the “Flavr Savr”, was the first genetically modified plant to be marketed for consumption. However, production was stopped a few years later.
Cherry tomatoes, in resin, from experimental greenhouse cultivation aimed at producing anthocyanin-rich fruit.
