When tomatoes were first introduced to the new world, because they were called “pomo d’oro” or “golden apples,” there is some suggestion that they may have been a specific type of color called “tangerine” orange that have high levels of prolycopene (a.k.a. tetra-cis-lycopene) instead of regular red lycopene or yellow xanthonins or beta-carotene orange (the other main source of orange in tomatoes).

These tomatoes have the recessive t gene which causes the enzyme carotenoid isomerase (CRTISO) to not work, and so the prolycopene accumulates instead of being made into lycopene. According to research by the Heritage Food Crops Research Trust in New Zealand, the prolycopene tomatoes are healthier than regular red lycopene tomatoes, because the prolycopene stays in the blood plasma for much longer periods of time than lycopene, and is able therefore to provide more beneficial effects.

I’d like to explore the variety of large tangerine tomatoes- would it be possible to make a very round tangerine slicer with anthocyanin stripes?