A Purple Tomato a Day, Keeps the Cancer Away
You can live a longer and healthier life now by consuming a new breed of tomatoes developed by the scientists of John Innes Centre, Norwich. The tomatoes contain an antioxidant pigment called Anthocyanin, which is generally found in fruits and is rich in anti-cancer properties. The tomatoes developed by the scientists, called Purple Tomatoes, contain genes from the snapdragon flower, which is a rich source of Anthocyanin.
Anthocyanins are also found in berries like blackberry, cranberry and chokeberry. Research has proven that it helps slow down the growth of colon cancer cells. Besides this, they also protect against cardiovascular disease and age-related degenerative diseases. These pigments have anti-inflammatory properties too, which manage to boost eyesight and provide strength against obesity and diabetes. The John Innes team is researching ways to increase the levels of health promoting compounds that are generally found in common fruits and vegetables. They chose the tomatoes for their experiment as they already contain precious anti-oxidants like lycopene and flavonoids in abundance. According to Professor Cathie Martin, “Most people do not eat five portions of fruits and vegetables a day, but they can get more benefit from those they do eat, if common fruit and vegetables can be developed that are higher in bioactive compounds.”
Scientists extracted two genes from snapdragon flowers that support production of anthocyanins and then turned them into a purple coloured tomato. This way, the Anthocyanins can be accumulated at higher levels as compared to the level of Anthocyanins found naturally in the peel and flesh of the original fruit. Of course, the culinary uses of tomatoes are also nearly infinite and this is another distinct advantage of the purple tomato. You can blend them into a purple smoothie using the Philips HR 1364 blender, for example, or use them on a tasty sandwich. The Purple Tomatoes were tested on mice and the results were incredible. Those mice who consumed these tomatoes had a longer life span as compared to those who consumed the natural red tomatoes.
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