Blue tomatoes are tomato

Tomato

The word "tomato" may refer to the plant or the edible, typically red, fruit which it bears. Originating in South America, the tomato was spread around the world following the Spanish colonization of the Americas, and its many varieties are now widely grown, often in greenhouses in cooler...

es that have been selectively bred to produce high levels of anthocyanin

Anthocyanin

Anthocyanins are water-soluble vacuolar pigments that may appear red, purple, or blue according to pH...

, a pigment responsible for the blue and purple color of several fruits. Anthocyanin has also been identified to possess antioxidant

Antioxidant

An antioxidant is a molecule capable of inhibiting the oxidation of other molecules. Oxidation is a chemical reaction that transfers electrons or hydrogen from a substance to an oxidizing agent. Oxidation reactions can produce free radicals. In turn, these radicals can start chain reactions. When...

 properties.

Researchers at Oregon State University

Oregon State University

Oregon State University is a coeducational, public research university located in Corvallis, Oregon, United States. The university offers undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degrees and a multitude of research opportunities. There are more than 200 academic degree programs offered through the...

 have produced the blue tomatoes using conventional breeding techniques, cross-pollinating domestic tomatoes with wild varieties that exhibit the "Anthocyanin fruit" (Aft) gene. High-anthocyanin tomatoes have also been developed using gene splicing techniques, incorporating genes from snapdragon

SnapDragon

SnapDragon is a contemporary jazz band based in San Antonio, Texas. The group released their debut CD, "Stealing a Moment" on Humbug Records in 2008, and the 10-song CD soon broke the Top 100 in U.S radio airplay...

s to increase the anthocyanin levels.

Lore

Even before the development of botanical blue tomatoes, the term "blue tomato(es)" has been associated with the unusual or the creative. "blue tomato. center for individual learning and critical thinking," a tutoring service, was founded in 1998 in NOHO

NoHo

NoHo, for North of Houston Street is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, roughly bounded by Houston Street on the south, The Bowery on the east, Astor Place on the north, and Broadway on the west. NoHo is wedged between Greenwich Village, west of Broadway, and the East Village...

 and Brooklyn Heights, metro New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

, New York, US "...because creativity is the root of all intellectual pursuit." A chain of stores and online retailer in Schladming, Graz, Vienna, Haus and Obertauern, AT uses the name Blue Tomato to span its treatment of sports ranging from snow sports to tropical surf gear. In such ways, "blue tomato" has been a colorful meme in the English and other languages in league with such memes as "white elephant

White elephant

A white elephant is an idiom for a valuable but burdensome possession of which its owner cannot dispose and whose cost is out of proportion to its usefulness or worth...

 or "red herring

Red herring

A red herring is a deliberate attempt to divert attention.Red herring may refer to:* Red herring , the informal fallacy of presenting an argument that may in itself be valid, but does not address the issue in question....

", conceivable while never or rarely extant or out of most people's experience, in contrast to yet-inexistent concepts such as "flying pigs" as in the phrase "when pigs fly."

In Bulgaria the phrase "blue tomato" (син домат) means an eggplant.