http://agro.biodiver.se/2007/02/heirlooms-are-better-for-you/ Crops, animals, wild relatives ... Thu, 18 Mar 2010 09:51:40 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 http://agro.biodiver.se/2007/02/heirlooms-are-better-for-you/comment-page-1/#comment-3483 New tomatoes promise better nutrition at Agricultural Biodiversity Weblog Mon, 05 Mar 2007 18:22:33 +0000 http://agro.biodiver.se/2007/02/heirlooms-are-better-for-you/#comment-3483 [...] The World Vegetable Center rounds up its work on tomatoes in a recent feature. A new cherry tomato released in Taiwan promises three to five times more beta-carotene than currently available varieties. But, I wonder, finger ever on the pulse, is it the right sort of beta-carotene? Is it the trans form or the cis form, so much more readily absorbed? Either way, the new tomatoes are more than merely sources of vitamin A precursors. They are also higher in citric acid and ascorbic acid (vitamin C), and the higher levels of vitamin C make more iron available when the tomatoes are cooked with mung beans. [...] [...] The World Vegetable Center rounds up its work on tomatoes in a recent feature. A new cherry tomato released in Taiwan promises three to five times more beta-carotene than currently available varieties. But, I wonder, finger ever on the pulse, is it the right sort of beta-carotene? Is it the trans form or the cis form, so much more readily absorbed? Either way, the new tomatoes are more than merely sources of vitamin A precursors. They are also higher in citric acid and ascorbic acid (vitamin C), and the higher levels of vitamin C make more iron available when the tomatoes are cooked with mung beans. [...]

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