Trying Out a ‘Rainbow Diet’ Good for Health

Article by: Hari Yellina (Orchard Tech)

Dieticians are urging Australians to eat a “rainbow” diet to boost nutrition, and new colourful breeds of vegetables are becoming available to make that task easier. Fresh Select grow purple cauliflowers in the Werribee food bowl, 30 kilometres southwest of Melbourne’s CBD. Chief executive John Said believes consumers want to try something different, and supermarkets are recognising that different colours would attract sales. It seems that everyone is looking for that different product, and the rainbow is one way to start. Breeders around the world have looked at it as a novel process, but now it’s becoming mainstream.

Dietician Simone Austin said eating a variety of colours increased the number of nutrients the human body can absorb. Any colours in vegetables, but particularly the purples and dark greens show that they’ve got lots of antioxidants in them and antioxidants are particularly good for us. Antioxidants are substances that can prevent or slow damage to cells caused by the body processing food and reacting to the environment. Supermarket owners believe that the purple vegetable’s success has enabled various companies to expand into trials with green and orange varieties.

The purple colour gives the vegetable a depth in flavour, and certainly the orange cauliflower that’s got a definitive taste. It has a bit of that carrot-like flavour, and the green cauliflower is really nutty, so they have all got a slightly different taste. Additionally, the orange cauliflower has been crossed with some carrot, they’ve been able to stabilise that to get that orange colour, and with the green (breeders) have taken a trait out of broccoli. Hari Yellina, of Orchard Tech, opined that having bright, colourful, food can also encourage children to be more adventurous with their diets.

Article by: Hari Yellina (Orchard Tech)