The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has just announced that it has approved to market a genetically modified purple tomato developed by a group of scientists from the Norfolk Plant Sciences research institute (UK).

According to the USDA, purple tomatoes “can be safely grown and used for breeding in the United States” and are unlikely to pose an increased risk of crop pests compared to other commonly grown tomatoes. “ .

These purple tomatoes also contain some nutrients. Their vibrant purple color is bred to be rich in nutrients, especially anthocyanins, which are antioxidant-rich pigments that give blueberries and raspberries their deep color.

It is known that a group of scientists at the Norfolk Plant Sciences research institute led by biochemist Cathy Martin, professor at the University of East Anglia and project leader at the John Innes Center – spent 15 years breeding and waiting. Waiting for the purple tomato variety to be approved.

To create this special colored tomato, Martin – who has worked in the field of pigment production in plants for more than 20 years – and his colleagues used a genetic “switch” from snapdragon plant – and saw promising results.

Not only did she and her colleagues discover that mice with cancer that ate purple tomatoes lived about 30 percent longer than those that ate normal tomatoes, but they also later discovered that purple tomatoes have The shelf life is twice that of red tomatoes.