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Meet Moonglow. It’s well known in the USA for being one of the tastiest of the heritage varieties of tomato, and NZ scientists have now shown these golden-orange globes have a big health advantage too. Tomatoes contain lycopene, a power antioxidant which can help reduce the incidence of heart disease and certain types of cancer. However, lycopene is hard for the body to absorb and red tomatoes must be cooked and eaten with a source of fat (eg, an oil-based dressing) for your body to best absorb what it can through the intestinal wall. Moonglow is different. Its extra special power was discovered by the Heritage Food Crops Research Trust in Whanganui, led by Mark Christensen (who helped discover the Monty’s Surprise apple), working with Dr Tony McGhie at Plant & Food Research. After testing more than 500 varieties, they discovered Moonglow contains tetra-cis-lycopene, and it’s even better then lycopene. Tetra-cis-lycopene is only found in certain varieties of golden-orange tomato and it has a different molecular structure to the type found in red tomatoes which is closer to the type of lycopene naturally found in the human body.
Moonglow is a rich, sweet-tasting, heavy yielding, medium-sized (170-220g), low acid, globe-shaped tomato, and does well in home gardens. It is noted for its firm texture, and it has a long shelf life too, making it a popular choice for anyone selling at a farmer’s market. Unfortunately, it doesn’t meet the high production levels required of commercial growers so the only way to get all its health benefits is to grow it yourself.
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