轻松英语阅读：紫色的西红柿

It’s no secret that dark foods with purple pigment, such as purple onions, grapes, blueberries, and prunes are loaded with nutrients. They have been scientifically proven to reduce cancer risk, help your heart by lowering bad cholesterol, repair liver damage, fight ulcers, prevent infections—the list goes on. They are nutritional superheroes. And now scientists in the UK want to add those same nutrients to tomatoes.

The purple tomatoes are GM or genetically modified tomatoes and were developed by scientists in the U.K. However, due to tight restrictions on GM products in the EU they grew the first crop of tomatoes in Canada. The scientists used genes from the snapdragon plant. The snapdragon plant contains high levels of anthocyanin, a powerful antioxidant.

The first crop has already been harvested and turned into 1,200 liters of juice. Next, the juice will be shipped to the UK where scientists will use it to study the effects of a diet high in anthocyanin on cancer and other diseases.

Could purple tomatoes be coming to a supermarket near you? Perhaps not right away, but ultimately the scientists would like to use the purple tomatoes to make tomato-based products like ketchup healthier.