336793 Tue Oct 24 16:45:44 -0700 2006 17 27 General Chowhounding Topics 0 1968896 Anyone see this on CNN regarding Purple Tomato's http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/10/24/purple.tomato.ap/index.html Tue Oct 24 16:45:44 -0700 2006 11222 Infomaniac 1 1968932 Or you could just buy heirloom tomatoes that have been around for more than a century and are the same colour -- Brandywines spring to mind -- that aren't cross-bred to the point of tastelessness. Tue Oct 24 16:55:06 -0700 2006 1968896 10811 Das Ubergeek 2 1968973 But do heirloom tomato's contains the same phytochemical found in blueberries that is thought to reduce the risk of cancer and heart disease? Tue Oct 24 17:03:45 -0700 2006 1968932 11222 Infomaniac 3 1969002 I have no idea, I'm not a food scientist... but if you want the phytochemical found in blueberries that is thought to reduce the risk of cancer and heart disease, eat some blueberries. Tue Oct 24 17:13:15 -0700 2006 1968973 10811 Das Ubergeek 4 1969675 Blueberries or Eggplant, Purple Potatoes, Blue Corn there are also deep red pigments that are in the same phytochemical families as the Purples including Raspberries, Pomegranates, Blackberries & others. I am not a food scientist... but I did help start up POM Wonderful (the pomegranate fruit & juice company)... so I have more than my share of Antioxident & Polyphenol experience. Tue Oct 24 20:48:05 -0700 2006 1969002 42572 Eat_Nopal 5 1969695 very cool info.....thanks Tue Oct 24 20:53:02 -0700 2006 1969675 11222 Infomaniac 3 1969612 I think all the purple fruits and veggies have the phytochemicals - it the phytochemicals that make them purple, so probably heirlooms are rich in them too. Has anyone tried the brown hybrids: http://dulcinea.com/rosso_bruno.html ? Claimed to taste better. Tue Oct 24 20:30:32 -0700 2006 1968973 12766 welle 4 1969634 Yeah. And they look even worse on a plate than blue veggies. They are kind of pretty when olive green, not so much when all brown. The second tomato that I let sit for a few days tasted a little better, but I still wouldn't buy them again. They are noted for being aprodisiacs ... for lizards http://www.chowhound.com/topics/show/302123 I have to give Raley's produce buyers lots of credit. They are always getting something interesting in ... baby pineapples, New Mexican Green chiles, Emeril's designer veggies, etc. Keeps me looking and buying something. Tue Oct 24 20:36:32 -0700 2006 1969612 10264 rworange 5 1969653 Thanks for sharing. what about the turtle effect? ;) Tue Oct 24 20:41:11 -0700 2006 1969634 12766 welle 3 1970417 They have lycopene which has similar effects. Wed Oct 25 01:56:11 -0700 2006 1968973 17969 rainey 3 1979011 no this is kind of a common misperception. purple tomatoes look purple because there's a gene keeps chlorophyll in the fruit instead of breaking it down, it mixes with the red color of the lycopene to make the fruit look darker. that said apparently someone is trying to breed tomatoes that have anthocyanin in them. not sure why. blueberries are a tastier way of getting plenty of them. by the way brandywines are pink not purple tomatoes. Sat Oct 28 04:45:51 -0700 2006 1968973 10246 choctastic 1 1969595 The trouble with purple vegetables ... beans, cauliflower, tomatoes, and probably other stuff I'm forgetting ... is that they look lousy on the plate. Really, what can you pair a purple vegetable with that doesn't look gross? Well, they just have to develop purple lettuce now so that at least the salad can be color-coordinated ... top lettuce with purple cauliflower etc ... with blueberry vinagrette. I tried to eat purple cauliflower this summer but the color was just too jarring. I kept thinking it had gone bad. Tue Oct 24 20:27:49 -0700 2006 1968896 10264 rworange 2 1969673 Sort of like the colored ketchups(green, blue, orange, purple). It was more a novelty, with a short lifespan. Tue Oct 24 20:47:42 -0700 2006 1969595 11222 Infomaniac 2 1970419 Actually, most of them cook to conventional or near conventional colors. But they still tend to have more flavor and higher nutritional values. Wed Oct 25 01:57:19 -0700 2006 1969595 17969 rainey 2 1979019 i put black (really a dark brownish purple) cherry tomatoes with orange cherry tomatoes and other color cherry tomatoes and it looked spectacular. tastes great too. purple bell peppers are really cool looking on the plate. maybe kind of jarring i guess but i don't care. Sat Oct 28 04:48:51 -0700 2006 1969595 10246 choctastic 1 1970594 Most purple tomatoes don't look purple to me--merely dark red with a few darker streaks, and the meat of most is just red. It looks like the new tomato has bluer streaks than most heirlooms I have seen. Why don't they call it a blue tomato? Does the blue color go through to the fruit inside? Wed Oct 25 03:28:05 -0700 2006 1968896 11791 DonShirer 2 1971577 You're right, actually. Most tomatoes are some variation on red and growers standardized some terminology many years ago. There are "pink" tomatoes — flesh is red but skin is transparent. "Red" tomatoes — skin and flesh are both red. "Black" tomatoes — very deep red to maroon flesh; "black" varieties can have names that use other terms like "chocolate" or "purple" as well as "black". "Yellow" tomatoes are, obviously, yellow. "Green" tomatoes are varieties like Aunt Ruby's German Green that are green when mature. Any variety can be picked while still green (immature) and used for relishes or fried green tomatoes. They are also referred to as "green" but a grower or seed supplier is talking about the ones that are still green when ripe. And then there are "Bi-Colors". Bi-Colors have either a different color on the top ("shoulders") than the one on the blossom end and the flesh. The tomatoes in the original poster's photo are bi-colors. A second category of bi-colors are the ones like "Pineapple" that can appear to be a single color when intact but have a blush of a second color at the core. Generally speaking, the darker the tomato, the more fabulous the flavor is. Although there's much to be said for the citrusy flavor of the yellows and the spicy, slightly astringent flavor of the greens. They all supply, when cooked, lycopene which has specific anti-cancer properties. Wed Oct 25 16:54:11 -0700 2006 1970594 17969 rainey 3 1972207 They don't have to be cooked for the Lycopene to be available... but cooking does concentrate Lycopene levels similiar to how fermentation concentrates many Anti-oxidants present in grapes. Wed Oct 25 19:30:49 -0700 2006 1971577 42572 Eat_Nopal