By making some genetic adjustments using CRISPR technology, scientists have designed a special sun-dried tomato full of vitamin D down to the leaves.
The flesh and skin of the fruit were genetically modified to contain the same levels of vitamin D as two eggs or 28 grams of tuna, which are currently recommended sources of vital nutrients.
When exposed to ultraviolet light for one hour, these provitamins were easily converted to vitamin D3.
Both provitamin and vitamin have potential health-related benefits.
“We have shown that you can biofortify tomatoes with provitamin D3 by editing genes, which means that tomatoes could grow as a sustainable source of herbal vitamin D3,” says Cathie Martin, a botanist who works at John Innes Center, an independent entity. plant research center in England.
“Forty percent of Europeans suffer from vitamin D deficiency and also a billion people worldwide. Not only are we tackling a major health problem, but we are helping growers, because the tomato leaves that are currently being wasted, could be used to supplement genetically edited lines “.
Among the genetically engineered tomatoes, the researchers found that the edible green leaves contained 600 micrograms of provitamin D3 per gram.
This is 60 times the recommended daily intake for adults.
The authors do not suggest that people eat tomato leaves along with meat, but that we use vegetation instead of throwing it away. For example, leftover leaves could be crushed to make vegan vitamin D3 supplements.
If we are smart about this, it seems that every part of the genetically modified fruit can be used to address vitamin D deficiency.
While sun exposure is a way to increase vitamin D levels in the human body, diet is another important source. That said, there are very few foods that contain the vitamin naturally and even fewer that are vegan.
As a result, products such as milk, cereals, and orange juice have been artificially fortified with vitamin D to help improve public health.
Tomatoes, however, naturally contain some precursors of vitamin D3, known as 7-dehydrocholesterol or 7-DHC.
By disabling the genes encoding the enzymes that break down 7-DHC, the researchers forced the vitamin D precursor to accumulate in both ripe and ripe fruit.
This precursor can easily be converted to vitamin D in the presence of sunlight, but it does not necessarily have to be to show benefits.
“For older people with decreasing 7-DHC levels, consuming 7-DHC-fortified fruit could address their deficiencies directly,” the authors write.
Even better, the genetic adjustment did not cause any change in the growth, development, or yield of the tomato.
Because vitamin D deficiency is linked to an increased risk of cancer, Parkinson’s disease, depression, and dementia, biofortification of fruits and vegetables with the nutrient could go a long way toward improving public health.
In light of the promising results, researchers are calling for tomatoes to be the next sustainable source of plant-based vitamin D3. And they may not be the last, either.
Eggplants, potatoes, and peppers have similar vitamin D3 precursors that could be adjusted in similar ways to accumulate in plants.
“The provitamin D-enriched tomatoes we’ve produced provide a much-needed source of herbal vitamin from the sun,” says plant scientist Jie Li, who works at Martin’s lab as a postdoctoral researcher.
“This is great news for people who are on a plant-rich diet, vegetarian or vegan, and for the growing number of people around the world who are suffering from vitamin D deficiency.”
The study was published in Nature Plants.