Tangerine Tomatoes Surpass Reds in Lycopene

A new U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) study suggests that, ounce for ounce, the heirloom tangerine tomato is a better source of a powerful antioxidant called lycopene than more familiar red tomatoes.

The difference lies in the forms of lycopene that the two tomato types provide, according to chemist Betty J. Burri at the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) Western Human Nutrition Research Center in Davis, California. The trans-lycopene form, or isomer, makes up most of the lycopene in common red tomatoes. In contrast, most of the lycopene in tangerine tomatoes is tetra-cis-lycopene.

Results of the California investigation and one conducted by scientists in Ohio suggest that the tangerine tomato's tetra-cis-lycopene is more efficiently absorbed by the body than is the trans-lycopene of red tomatoes.

Source: Agricultural Research Service

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