Consumers can look forward to a new tomato that not only looks and tastes good but could also have health benefits.

Queensland Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries physiologist Tim O'Hare of Gatton said medical research was showing that diets rich in a food chemical called lycopene could reduce the risks of prostate cancer, an increasingly important health issue for men.

Dr. O'Hare said while lycopene was a powerful antioxidant it also gave tomatoes their red colour.

He said as a result of the health research findings he was working with horticulturist Des McGrath to develop a tomato variety with a much higher lycopene content than current commercial varieties.

"We now have experimental lines with three times the lycopene levels of normal tomatoes," he said.

"The stumbling block is that the lines are unacceptable for commercial production because of brittle stems, poor germination and low yields."

Dr O'Hare said they were investigating a novel approach based on whole plant physiology to overcome these drawbacks.

"If our approach works, we will have developed a tomato plant that is identical to normal tomatoes in every way apart from having three times the lycopene level."

He said the high lycopene tomato could then be used as a parent for crossing into varieties with characteristics that suited growers, processors and consumers.

Dr O'Hare said there were other fruits that contained lycopene such as guava, watermelon and pink grapefruit, but at much lower concentrations than tomatoes.

"Almost all the lycopene in our diet comes from fresh tomatoes or products like tomato paste, sauce or canned tomatoes.

He said the reported health benefits of lycopene came partly from its ability to reduce cell damage thought to eventually cause prostate cancer and other health problems.

He said the initial experimental work to establish a suitable high-lycopene parent line would be done at Gatton and Bowen.

Trials were underway, with preliminary results looking promising.