Jim Myers with the new Midnight Roma tomato he developed.

CORVALLIS, Ore. — Oregon State University this week announced a new, university-developed purple tomato called the Midnight Roma.

Jim Myers, 66, a vegetable breeder and professor in OSU’s College of Agricultural Science, bred the new variety, which follows 10 years after Myers’ development of the Indigo Rose, the first all-purple tomato on the market.

Myers’ new Midnight Roma, a large, multi-purpose tomato, is a cross between Indigo Rose and Oregon Star varieties. Its color appeals to chefs making eye-catching pastes, and the tomato is high in anthocyanins, which have antioxidant effects good for human health.

“I think it’ll be popular among home gardeners, canners and high-end chefs,” said Myers, the breeder. “I also think there’s potential for it go into the processing trade, more in the specialty processing sector. It makes a very pretty sauce, very dark red, as you can imagine.”

The Midnight Roma can be enjoyed sliced or in paste. Varietals grown for paste, Myers said, are usually dense and “meaty” with fewer seeds, but often weak in flavor because the tomato’s placenta — the gel and seed region — packs the flavor. Fresh market varietals are often seedy and flavorful but don’t make great paste.

The Midnight Roma, Myers said, is both meaty and seedy, making it a good choice for both markets.

It also has the potential to attract health-conscious consumers because it is rich in anthocyanins, which are anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial and linked to other health benefits.

The Midnight Roma is also resistant to verticillium wilt, a plant disease.

Although OSU announced the new variety this week, Myers said it was officially released last fall, and Row 7 Seed Co. in Tarrytown, N.Y., has exclusive rights to sell seeds online.

The new tomato is already gaining traction. Serious Pie, a Seattle pizza restaurant, is using Midnight Roma to make gourmet pizza sauce, and when Row 7 Seed Co.’s co-founder Dan Barber introduced the tomato on Instagram, his post received more than 22,000 likes.

Myers said the first purple tomato he released a decade ago, the Indigo Rose, has already been licensed, or is in the process of being licensed, across much of Canada, Europe, Japan and South Africa.

Myers said he believes consumer interest is growing in specialty and heirloom tomato varieties.

“I see that trend reflected in the grocery stores,” he said.

The Indigo Rose and Midnight Roma incorporate genes from wild tomato varieties.

Tomatoes’ wild relatives can be found in South America, where they were domesticated thousands of years ago. Many heirloom varieties were developed in Central America and Mexico. Today, Myers said, the tomato is America’s most popular produce — second only to the potato — and he estimates there are now about 10,000 varieties.

Myers said growers planting the Midnight Roma should know what to look for in ripeness. A ripe Midnight Roma, he said, will get softer, subtly move from a black, shiny appearance to a dull, brownish purple and will have a shaded reddish tip.