My sister is also a health nut foodie who asked me about the antioxident and nutritional levels in white tomatoes, (since I have two doing well). She was guessing they would be lower. I did a little reading, couldn't find much, but a/the Tangerine tomato got a lot of press in my search for being highest in lycopene. Then there's several that have boosted vitamin C levels.

I too am interested in learning more. Good question.

mojavebob-
My guess about the white tomatoes is that they are lower in antioxidants and probably other nutrients as well. The white variety I grew was sweet, but somewhat lacking in flavor and is not something I will be growing again.

I'm not sure how the tangerine tomato would be highest in lycopene, as lycopene is a bright red carotenoid pigment.

Also, as for the "darker flesh" comment, blueberries and the like are that color because of anthocyanin pigments, antioxidants which tomatoes do not naturally possess (but which their relatives, the nightshades, do). Although there are some genetically engineered tomatoes which have it, but are not on the market yet:

Don't they just look like giant nightshades? :)

All colors have some kind of antioxidants. The difference is the kind of antioxidants and concentrations.

lycopene gets touted because of a few studies that cite specific benefits (like prostate) but yellow and orange have other carotenoids which also have their own antioxidant benefits.

Levels of all carotenoids can be increased by other genes which increase cholorophyll levels, which then get changed into carotenoids, however there is some genetic drag associated with these genes and we really havent seen them come into play. These are high pigment genes and modifer genes to the levels of lycopene vs carotene.

The green flesh gene that makes browns and purples does increase cholorphyll levels but most stays green rather than converted into some a carotenoid. Lycopene synthesis is still normal in such fruits. Such fruits, like 'Cherokee Purple', may also have increased levels of anthocyanins which are different then the ways mentioned above or in "P20" type fruits. Anthocyanins are not typically produced in tomato fruits but rather other parts of the plant.

High vitamin C 'Double Rich' and high vitamin A lines can be found but most do not care for their flavors. High Vitamin A lines are typically orange (beta-carotene) so there is some association with color there.

More about nutrition but not having to do with color necessarily.

Tomatoes have other health benefits/antioxidants such as quercitin/rutin which is a bioflavanoid. Most tomatoes don't have that much quercitin but rather its conjugate rutin (conujugates are similar molecules usually only different by a proton like NH4 vs NH3). There seems to be a rate limiting step of converting the rutin into quercitin. Such benefical bioflavanoids are located almost completely in the peel and are highest in cherry fruits grown in high light, warm, southern climates. The biolflavanoid concentrations of larger fruit are much lower than smaller fruit.

The primary amino acid is glutamic acid. Variations in amino acid content can be attributed to genetics and environmental nutrition. Amino acid content can be altered by fertilizer rates (higher rates of N). Glutamic acid, aspartic acid, serine and threonine are present in ripe fruit but most of the other amino acids decrease as fruit ripens.

Don't they just look like giant nightshades? :)

Which should be a warning to avoid GM products...while it looks cool, I wouldn't want to grow a GM tomato. I avoid any GM stuff I come across...and I'm not trying to start a long angry thread about Monsanto, so don't even go there! ;)

GM stuff is coming

not all of it is from wide interchanges (like fish to plant or snapdragon to tomato). GM techniques will be used to target specific genes from one closely related species and put them into another. That can be done conventionally with lots of work and time but if it can be done to speed up the process then not ALL GM would be such a bad thing.

For instance, L. hirsutum does have resistance to late blight. When that line is crossed into conventional tomatoes the quality and yield of the fruit comes down. The more you work on fruit quality, the less resistance one can get. What if they can locate those specific genes without the genetic drag and insert them into a better line and come up with a late blight resistant tomato?

That's not a wide cross. It's just using GM techniques as a tool to be specific and target a goal. GM techniques will also likely be used to enhance the nutritive value of fruits.

Even Michael Pollan has stated such use of GM will likely be a necessary step in food production.

Peacevine tomatoes are supposed to have the highest lycopene of all tomatoes

Any tomato with the high crimson gene has high levels of lycopene. There are numerous deep red tomatoes on the market today that incorporate it.

I will step into this fray by stating that as a general rule tomatoes are rather limited in terms of total nutrients that a human body can absorb. The good news is that the nutrients that are available happen to be limited in the average diet. Eating tomatoes does give a good source of dietary fiber, decent levels of several vitamins, and a good source of antioxidants though there are problems with absorption in the human body.

I'm still waiting on that GM tomato that looks and tastes like a tender juicy prime rib.

DarJones