The United States approved the sale of genetically modified purple tomatoes: why the red ones did not please the authorities

In 1893, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled that tomatoes, by the way they were used, should be considered vegetables for the purpose of imposing customs duties, since they were served for lunch, not for dessert (although the court noted that botanically, tomatoes are berries) , reports CNN.

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“This plant can also be purple and can be safely grown and used in breeding,” the agency said in a Sept. 7 report.

The approval brings the purple tomato one step closer to mainstream adoption. In addition to its unique color, the purple tomato also has health benefits and a longer shelf life than garden-grade red tomatoes, scientists say.

The tomato was developed by a team of scientists, including British biochemist Cathy Martin, professor at the University of East Anglia and project leader at the John Innes Center in Norwich, England.

Martin has been working on the production of pigments in colors for over 20 years. “I wanted to start projects where we could see if there are health benefits from this particular group of pigments,” she said.

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The pigments that caught Martin's attention are anthocyanins, which give blueberries, blackberries, and eggplants a deep blue-purple hue. With funding from a German consortium, she set out to create anthocyanin-rich tomatoes, hoping to "increase the antioxidant capacity" of the fruit.

By comparing regular tomatoes with fake purple tomatoes, she can easily determine if anthocyanins are associated with any specific health benefits.

To create purple tomatoes, scientists used snapdragon transcription factors to make tomatoes produce more anthocyanins, creating a vibrant purple color.

Martin and her colleagues published the first results of their study in 2008 in an article in the journal Nature Biotechnology.

The results were "stunning," she said. According to the study, cancer-prone mice that ate purple tomatoes lived about 30% longer than those that ate regular tomatoes.

Benefit

Martin said there are "many explanations" for why anthocyanin-rich tomatoes may have health benefits. “There are probably multiple mechanisms at play,” she said. “This is not a drug that has a single purpose. The fact is that they have antioxidant properties. They can also influence the composition of the microbiome so they are better able to digest other nutrients,” she said.

And in 2013, Martin and her colleagues published a study showing that purple tomatoes have twice the shelf life of their red counterparts.

Martin founded a subsidiary, Norfolk Plant Sciences, to bring purple tomatoes to market. Nathan Pamplin, CEO of American business venture Norfolk, said the purple tomato "hit people to the quick in such a simple way."

The distinctive purple color means "it doesn't take imagination to see that it's different," Pamplin said. “It really allows people to make a choice,” he added.

FDA approval and commercialization are the next steps

He added that in the past, research on genetically modified foods has often focused on engineered crops that are more sustainable in production. But for consumers, the benefits of eating genetically modified foods are unclear.

“It’s very abstract, it’s hard to understand,” Pamplin said. “But a purple tomato, you either eat it or you don’t.” The difference between a GMO (genetically modified organism) product and a non-GM tomato is vast, and the potential health benefits for consumers are also clear.

Pamplin says consumers are "warming up" to GM foods around the world.

“We're looking at the issues facing our society in terms of sustainability, climate change, health, diet and nutrition, and it's clear from the answers to those questions that this is a really important topic for a lot of people,” he said. “I’m encouraged that many people are starting to reconsider biotechnology in light of important issues.”

“At the same time, GMOs are not a panacea,” he said. “This is one of the tools in our toolkit to improve the food production system.”

The next steps for purple tomatoes are FDA approval and commercialization, Pamplin said. “We need to grow great, delicious purple tomatoes. We need to work with growers to grow them and distribute them,” he said.

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Norfolk will begin launching limited test markets in 2023 to determine which consumers are most interested in purple tomatoes.

As for taste? Pamplin said that the purple tomato is no different from the regular red tomato.
“It tastes like a great tomato,” he said.

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