Why Fall Produce Comes in So Many Colors

Fall has a way of making us notice the colors of food.

Part of that is because autumn is harvest season for so many familiar crops. Summer tomatoes may still be finishing up just as apples and grapes are being picked, pumpkins and winter squash are coming in, and cool-weather crops such as broccoli and leafy greens are reaching their season.

For a short time, foods from different parts of the growing season can overlap, creating an especially colorful harvest.

But there is something even more interesting hiding behind all those colors.

The red in a ripe tomato, orange in a pumpkin, purple in a grape and green in a leaf aren't simply decorations. Many come from natural plant compounds with specific jobs to do.

And those jobs can be surprisingly different.

Plants Have Their Own Color Makers

Plants contain natural pigments that give fruits and vegetables many of their familiar colors.

Some pigments are easy to spot. Others are hidden by stronger colors or change as a fruit or vegetable grows and ripens.

Carotenoids are a large family of yellow, orange and red plant pigments. Beta-carotene gives many pumpkins and orange vegetables their color. Lutein and zeaxanthin contribute yellow tones and are also found in green vegetables, where chlorophyll can hide their color.

Lycopene is a carotenoid responsible for the red color of ripe tomatoes and some other red or pink foods. As many tomatoes ripen, their lycopene content increases while their familiar red color develops.

Anthocyanins can produce red, purple and blue colors. They help give foods such as purple grapes, berries, plums and red cabbage their rich shades.

Chlorophyll is responsible for the green color we associate with leaves and many green vegetables. It plays an essential role in photosynthesis, helping plants capture light energy.

But color isn't always a simple code. A fruit or vegetable can contain several different pigments and other phytochemicals at the same time.

What Are Those Compounds Doing for the Plant?

Plants don't make phytochemicals for us. Long before we pick a tomato, bite into an apple or cut open a pumpkin, those compounds have been busy working for the plant.

Chlorophyll is helping the plant make food. It captures light energy that the plant uses during photosynthesis. Without chlorophyll, the green leaves we see in the garden couldn't perform one of their most important jobs.

Lutein and zeaxanthin help plants handle sunlight. Inside leaves, these carotenoids are involved in protecting the plant's photosynthetic machinery when it receives more light energy than it can safely use.

Anthocyanins can act like a plant's protective sunscreen. In some plants, these red, purple and blue pigments help protect tissues from intense light and other environmental stresses. Their bright colors can also help attract animals to ripe fruit, which can help disperse the plant's seeds.

Lycopene helps protect plant tissues too. In tomatoes, lycopene is part of the carotenoid system involved in handling light and protecting cells. As the tomato ripens, chlorophyll disappears and lycopene accumulates, changing the fruit from green toward red.

Beta-carotene has more than one job. It helps plants capture light for photosynthesis while also helping protect the photosynthetic system when there's more light energy than the plant can use.

So the pigments we notice because they're beautiful aren't just sitting there providing color.

They're working.

Visit Harvest Grove through our Interactive Map. Click the different gardens and visit the fairies who care for them and learn about the adventures that took place there. Click on the dog, birds, clock tower and stream and hear their sounds!