Blueberry-colored tomatoes fight cancer, may lengthen life

William Atkins
Monday, 27 October 2008 21:46

Science - Health

A European study added healthy antioxidants to tomatoes and found they turned the vegetable purple in color. More importantly, the genetically modified tomatoes were fed to cancer-prone mice, which helped them to live longer. It might help people reduce the risk of cancer and live longer in the future.


The European researchers based their study on past research that showed anthocyanins can slow the growth of cancer cells, and reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and age-related degenerative diseases.

Anthocyanins, which occur in all tissue parts of plants such as leaves, stems, fruits, and flowers, are found in high levels in fruits such as blueberries, blackberries, cranberries, and chokeberries.

The researchers published their results in the October 26, 2008 issue of the journal Nature Biotechnology. Their paper is entitled “Enrichment of tomato fruit with health-promoting anthocyanins by expression of select transcription factors.”

The authors, from the United Kingdom, Italy, Germany, and the Netherlands, are Eugenio Butelli, Lucilla Titta, Marco Giorgio, Hans-Peter Mock, Andrea Matros, Silke Peterek, Elio G. W. M. Schijlen, Robert D. Hall, Arnaud G. Bovy, Jie Luo, and Cathie Martin

The abstract to their Nature Bioechnology paper states, “Dietary consumption of anthocyanins, a class of pigments produced by higher plants, has been associated with protection against a broad range of human diseases. However, anthocyanin levels in the most commonly eaten fruits and vegetables may be inadequate to confer optimal benefits.”

The genetically modified tomatoes had two types of anthocyanins added to them. The two genes are called Delila and Rosea1, which are from the snapdragon, a type of flower.

Anthocyanins are a specific type of antioxidant that belong to the flavonoid class. These two antioxidants gave the tomatoes their new purple color.

How did the scientists perform the experiment, and what was their result? Please read on.