THE NEXT BIG THING IN FRUITS & VEGGIES

A look at some new fruits and vegetables that have been bred for both the palate and the body

Tinkering with plants is one of the oldest ideas in agriculture. For millennia, farmers have bred plants to highlight certain properties, or crossbred them to create new fruits and vegetables. (click below to read more)


Monsanto Co.
Frescada lettuce
Monsanto Co. bred iceberg and romaine lettuce together in an attempt to combine the best qualities of both—the sweet taste and crisp texture of iceberg and Romaine's higher levels of vitamin C and folate, and deeper green color. The lettuce, called Frescada, launched this year in Sam's Club stores.


Patrick Tregenza
Beneforte
In the 1980s, scientists from the U.K. discovered a wild broccoli in southern Italy that has higher levels of glucoraphanin, a chemical thought to give broccoli its antioxidant, cancer-preventing properties. They crossbred it with commercial broccoli to create Beneforte, which has two to three times the level of glucoraphanin as other varieties. It's expected to be in stores throughout the U.S. by the end of the year.


Bayer AG
Seedless watermelon
As young plants, seedless watermelons are treated with colchicine, an extract of the autumn crocus plant. The substance is often used as medication for gout, but here it inhibits chromosome development, leading to a plant that can develop fruit but not seeds. Pictured is the Fashion Watermelon, a new entry to the market from Bayer AG's fruit and vegetable seed subsidiary, that boasts a high fructose content.


Syngenta AG
Angello pepper
Syngenta AG spent eight years breeding peppers to develop this small, seedless variety. It took two years to produce a seedless fruit and years more to develop a sweet taste. The Angello—which is being marketed for snacking and salads—won the innovation prize this year at Fruit Logistica, the world's largest fruit and vegetable exhibition.


Joe Atlas
EverMild onions
This new variety of onions was bred in the low-sulfur soil of the Northwest to have a rich flavor but low pungency—meaning no tears. An answer to the Georgia Vidalia onion, it's harvested in the fall and serves the U.S. market in the winter months, when Vidalias aren't available.