Pink pineapples are in high demand

September 5, 2023

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Scientists have engineered a pink pineapple: It is unassuming on the skin however a blushing pink on the within. The brand new “Pinkglow” pineapple, which is grown in Costa Rica, is patented and bought by meals big Del Monte and was 16 years within the making — and it is flying off the cabinets.

However what offers this genetically engineered tropical fruit its rosy hue? The flesh is made pink because of an additional serving to of lycopene, a carotenoid and pigment that happens naturally in pineapples. It is also the compound that offers watermelon and tomatoes their reddish shade.

In pineapples, lycopene is normally transformed to beta-carotene by an enzyme, which makes the within of the pineapple yellow. That enzyme, lycopene beta-cyclase, is muted within the pink pineapple, and this causes lycopene to build up, based on Del Monte’s patent on the brand new fruit. As a result of Del Monte has claimed the pink pineapples as mental property, it’s the solely firm allowed to develop them.

In keeping with the patent, the lycopene-converting enzyme is muted utilizing a method referred to as RNA interference. Meaning the corporate added a gene whose RNA matches and binds the RNA carrying the message to construct the protein lycopene beta-cyclase, Courtney Weber, plant breeding and genetics knowledgeable at Cornell College stated. Binding the RNA prevents the cell from making the enzyme. The brand new gene was then transferred to the pineapple genome utilizing a sort of micro organism that naturally transfers DNA to a number cell as a part of its life cycle.

The genetic engineering course of started in 2005, based on the patent. After six years, Del Monte examined 4 generations of the plant grown in Costa Rica between 2010 and 2014. The testing course of for a brand new selection takes a very long time, Weber informed Stay Science.

“It’s important to check it, put it within the subject, make certain it grows proper, make certain it is a suitable selection, that it is productive sufficient,” Weber stated. And the pineapple is not a very fast-growing plant.

The produce firm additionally developed a “Honeyglow” pineapple with an extra-golden inside. In August, Del Monte reported that demand for the pink pineapples is outpacing provide and that the Honeyglow and Pinkglow collectively contributed to larger gross revenue than within the earlier quarter.

In grocery shops, the pink pineapple prices about $10, or roughly twice the worth of ordinary varieties. And on-line retailers promote a single fruit for $29 to $39.

These excessive costs are a product of shortage and advertising and marketing, Weber stated.

“We have seen that in different varieties that weren’t GMO [genetically modified],” he stated. For instance, Honeycrisp apples and Cotton Sweet grapes have been each extremely popular and significantly larger in value than conventional varieties after they have been launched to the market. As extra of those fruits are produced, the worth comes down, and that may doubtless be the case for pink pineapples, Weber stated.

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