So How Do Those Controversial New Purple Tomatoes Grow and Taste?

September 24th, 2024

   I’ve been eating dozens of bioengineered purple-fleshed fruits of the new Purple Tomato for two months now, and so far I can report that I’m not taking on any snapdragon characteristics.

The Purple Tomato really is purple inside and out… not just purple-skinned.

   I say that facetiously because this first-year variety is controversial for being the first bioengineered or “GMO” (genetically modified organism) vegetable being directly marketed to home gardeners – one that gets its purple color from genes inserted from a purple snapdragon.

   It’s been a wild first year for the Purple Tomato, which went on sale in late winter and promptly sold out its entire 2024 seed supply in four weeks – 13,000 packets worth. That was despite a high price tag of $20 for a 10-seed pack.

   Then the company selling Purple Tomato seeds, California-based Norfolk Healthy Produce, got into a dispute with Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds over a very similar new “incredibly sweet” purple cherry tomato that Baker Creek was touting on its catalog back cover.

   Baker Creek called its Purple Galaxy introduction “the first – and the purple-est – non-GMO purple tomato in the universe,” a claim that struck a chord with the many gardeners who are roundly anti-GMO.

   However, when Norfolk pointed out that Purple Galaxy likely was its own patented Purple Tomato in disguise, Baker Creek did further testing and then yanked Purple Galaxy from its inventory before actually shipping any.

   A Baker Creek statement said the company was “unable to conclusively establish that the Purple Galaxy does not contain any genes that have been genetically modified.”

   Baker Creek said it had acquired its seeds from a hobby breeder in France – where GMO vegetables are banned – and claimed that its original testing showed none of the common markers for GMO.

   Norfolk then had to snuff out a case in Europe where an individual identifying himself as Bruno Fournier was selling Purple Tomato seeds on his Facebook page.

   For one thing, Purple Tomato is not registered or legally approved for sale anywhere in Europe due to its GMO nature.

   For another, Purple Tomato is a patented variety, meaning only Norfolk can sell it or authorize its sale.

   Individual gardeners are allowed to save seeds from their own Purple Tomato plants and even give away those seeds to others, but selling them is tantamount to thievery. (Although the Purple Tomato is bioengineered, the seeds from its fruits are open-pollinated and will produce the same or very similar fruits year after year.)

   Norfolk reported the unauthorized seller to U.S. and European authorities and put out a press release saying, “it pains us that an individual has seen fit to take unfair advantage of our ‘share-alike’ model.”

   Norfolk added that its gene technology is the only known way to produce an all-purple tomato, so if anyone is selling a variety with that trait, it’s been bioengineered.

   Meanwhile back in the U.S., Purple Tomato fruits have started showing up in farmer’s markets and on restaurant plates in addition to American home gardens.

   Norfolk also partnered with Red Sun Farms, which has a greenhouse operation in Virginia, to produce bioengineered purple cherry tomatoes for sale in grocery stores. Nine-ounce boxes of Purple Tomato look-alikes called the “Empress Limited Edition Tomato” debuted this summer in a few Food City, Food Lion, and Lidl stores in North Carolina and Virginia.

Here’s what Purple Tomatoes look like growing on the vine.

   As for growing the Purple Tomato at home, I bit the bullet and paid $20 for 10 seeds of them this winter. It was by far the most I’ve ever paid for seeds – $2 per seed, plus shipping.

   I started five of the seeds inside in early March and got all five to germinate in moistened vermiculite. The seedlings grew out normally under inside shop lights, just like any other tomato I’ve grown.

   After hardening them off, I planted three of the plants in mid-May in my own home garden and gave two to my son to plant. 

   The plants were a little slow to get going, but once they hit stride in mid-June, the growth was vigorous – similar to most cherry tomatoes’ tall and rangy habit.

   By the end of July, the plants were six feet tall and producing the first trusses of ripe fruits.

   Most of my fruits were about the size of a Ping-Pong ball. Some were slightly smaller, some slightly larger.

   Fruits matured from green to a dark, glossy black, although ones ripening in the hottest weather had more of a dark brown/purple skin color.

   The plants continued to produce steadily and heavily throughout August and into early September.

   Again, like most tomatoes, production went downhill as the plants became infected from the bottom up by early blight and Septoria leaf spot – two extremely common fungal diseases in tomatoes.

   Some of the later-season fruits also rotted on the vines – I suspect from anthracnose or the aforementioned early blight.

   So far as taste, I’d rate it as good – maybe a tad above average on the scale of cherry tomatoes I’ve grown and tasted over 40 years of veggie gardening.

   “Incredibly sweet” is an exaggeration, but I also found the taste to be sweeter than some other Purple Tomato reviewers who have called the flavor “bland.”

   A bigger break-through is in the looks department.

   Slicing a Purple Tomato reveals a rich violet-purple pulp and flesh that looks great in a salad. It’s one of the most beautiful edibles I’ve ever grown.

   Going hand-in-hand with the purple pigmentation is a boosted level of anthocyanin, an antioxidant that has anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory properties.

   Cathie Martin, the British biochemist who developed the Purple Tomato, did studies showing the variety has anthocyanin levels rivaling the antioxidant “superfood” blueberries.

   I can’t vouch for that, but I know that in general, veggies with the richest colors tend to be higher in nutrition.

   Overall, I liked the yield, the flavor, and especially the fruit color of the Purple Tomato.

   I didn’t like the $20 seed price tag, but the good news is that I should be able to save this year’s seed and keep growing the Purple Tomato for years to come without having to buy new seed.

   On the GMO issue, I see both the potential benefits and grievances.

   In this case at least, I’m not concerned about ill-health issues. I feel better knowing the extra genes came from a snapdragon – an edible flower itself – as opposed to something outlandish. In fact, the supposed higher levels of anthocyanin are likely a health boost.

   If you’re interested in more details about the Purple Tomato launch and the debate over GMO crops, check out the column I wrote two weeks ago for The Patriot-News and PennLive.com.

   And if you want to give the Purple Tomato a try in your own garden next year, 2025 seeds go on sale on the Norfolk Healthy Produce website Dec. 2.