Switching varieties could remedy tomato allergy

There is only a very small proportion of the population who may be allergic, and the Heritage Food C…

There is only a very small proportion of the population who may be allergic, and the Heritage Food Crops Research Trust may have the solution - change your tomato!

The trust has been researching the potential health benefits of some heritage tangerine tomatoes.

In 2015 they sent seeds to France for trialling and recently received an intriguing response.

One of the triallists was allergic to modern red tomatoes but found that he could eat the tangerine-coloured "Tangella" tomato, with absolutely no ill effects.

The trust mentioned this to Dr Jessica Cooperstone, who is one of the leading scientists in the US studying tangerine tomatoes. She suggested a possible reason.

Allergens are always proteins and tangerine-coloured tomatoes lack a functional copy of the enzyme carotenoid isomerase (a protein), however this enzyme is functional in red tomatoes.

So it could be this protein in red tomatoes that is causing an allergenic response in some individuals.

Hence the possibility exists that just switching to certain tangerine-coloured tomatoes may enable some people to eat this wonderful fruit again.