Chinese scientists have developed a new tomato variety with a “popcorn-like” aroma using gene-editing technology, aiming to tackle the problem of fading flavour during transport and storage.
In a greenhouse
in eastern China’s Zhejiang province, the tomatoes looked ordinary, but carried a surprisingly sweet scent – reminiscent of buttered popcorn. This was achieved not through crossbreeding, but by precisely editing the tomato genome using the CRISPR/Cas9 tool.
The study, co-authored by Chinese and Australian scientists, was published on January 24 in the peer-reviewed Journal of Integrative Agriculture.
The research team silenced two genes responsible for suppressing aromatic compounds, known as SlBADH1 and SlBADH2. When both were turned off, the tomatoes emitted a concentrated popcorn-like aroma.
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Even knocking out only SlBADH2 produced a noticeable scent. Volunteers confirmed the odour in both the fruit and leaves.
The scientists drew inspiration from premium fragrant rice, which owes its popcorn-like aroma to the compound 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (2-AP). Its accumulation is normally suppressed by the BADH2 gene. By replicating this mechanism in tomatoes, the team created a variety that nature had never produced before.
Xianghu Laboratory, a new agricultural research centre in Zhejiang, carried out the work, with Xu Shengchun, deputy director of its Biotechnology Research Institute, leading the study. Xu said the mutant tomatoes showed no significant changes in key traits, such as flowering time, plant height, fruit weight, soluble sugars or organic acids, meaning yield and quality were preserved.
The researchers hope to introduce the fragrance into elite commercial tomato cultivars, potentially enhancing flavour complexity, consumer preference and market value, much like fragrant rice varieties.
