04/06/06 Why color is so important

Why is color so important. I'm Greg Martin with today's Fruit Grower Report. The color of food can be extremely important for a variety of reasons. When our son was small he would not eat anything "green." He just wouldn't touch it. Remember green ketchup? It never really did click with the buying public, or with our son. Recently a report was released by the Agricultural Research Service. ARS is the USDA`s chief scientific research agency. This new report says that color is perhaps the most important of grape characteristics, a critical component of table, juice and wine grapes. Why would color be so important that scientists would delve into it? According to the report this genetic discovery may in fact allow more efficient breeding of color-specific grapes and that this color may be linked to antioxidant content. The finding is a potential milestone in grape research and production that may one day lead to breeding for color-specific grapes as well as for grapes that can enhance the stability of wines and juice. It may also spur better understanding of relationships between fruit color and health-imparting compounds like antioxidants, as well as the effects of environment and management practices on grape color and quality. The research may even lead to the development of grapes with novel colors. I'm not sure I care to think about eating hot pink or electric blue grapes. That's today's Fruit Grower Report, I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.