Making Cauliflower More Colorful (August 2007)

You might be getting your beta-carotine from cauliflower-orange colored cauliflower. Scientists from the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service at Cornell University recently pinpointed and duplicated the gene-dubbed “Or,” as in “orange”-that cues the vegetable to produce beta-carotene. Switching “on” the gene not only boosts the level of beta-carotene, but also turns cauliflower from the familiar white to a carrot-like orange.

You body can use dietary beta-carotene to make vitamin A, a nutrient many Americans don’t get enough of from food.