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Purple tomatoes approved for sale
The novelty fruit, approved by regulators on Wed…
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Purple tomatoes approved for sale
The novelty fruit, approved by regulators on Wednesday, gets its colour from added anthocyanin pigments – the same compounds found in blueberries and blackberries.
Daniel Tan, professor of agronomy at the University of Sydney, visited the laboratory at the John Innes Centre in 2010 and said the anthocyanins were inserted into the tomato from snapdragon genes.
“High levels of anthocyanins are associated with potential health benefits, including anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects,” he said.
Joseph Pegler, senior lecturer at the University of Newcastle and honorary treasurer of the Australian Society of Plant Scientists, said anthocyanins were shown to provide protective effects against a range of chronic diseases.
“The purple tomato is enriched in anthocyanins, thereby possessing the colour and beneficial compounds of popular fruits such as plums and blackberries,” Dr Pegler said.
– AAP
Temperatures to climb to 40C in Melbourne and Adelaide
Melbourne and Adelaide are set to exceed 40C over the 26 January long weekend, after enduring a punishing heatwave earlier in January.
Adelaide will reach a top of 42C on Saturday and drop to 35C on Sunday before again climbing to 41C on the Monday public holiday, the Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) is projecting.
Melbourne is also set to swelter through a scorching Saturday, reaching a top of 40C and remaining in the high 20s and early 30s for the long weekend, according to the BoM.
Meanwhile, Sydney is in for a warm and sunny long weekend, with temperatures hovering in the late 20s and early 30s through to Tuesday, while Brisbane will face possible showers on Friday and a top of 32C before reaching 36C on Monday.
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The Coalition has been plunged into chaos after the Nationals quit Sussan Ley’s shadow cabinet en-masse following a split over Labor’s hate speech laws.
In a bombshell move that threatened the future of the Coalition, the Nationals leader, David Littleproud, and other frontbench colleagues agreed to resign their positions at crisis talks on Wednesday night.
The mass exodus followed Ley’s decision to accept the resignation of Nationals senators Ross Cadell, Bridget McKenzie and Susan McDonald after the trio crossed the floor to oppose hate speech laws drafted in the wake of the Bondi massacre.
In other news: Melbourne and Adelaide are in for a sweltering 26 January long weekend, as wet weather in much of the country makes way for hot summer weather.
Stay with us.