A new strategy has been identified to simultaneously enhance health-promoting vitamin E by ~6-fold and double both provitamin A and lycopene contents in tomatoes, to significantly boost antioxidant properties.
As part of a collaborative study between the School of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, the University of Hong Kong (HKU), and the Institut de Biologie Moléculaire des Plantes (CNRS, Strasbourg, France), new strategy has been identified to simultaneously enhance health-promoting vitamin E by ~6-fold and double both provitamin A and lycopene contents in tomatoes, to significantly boost antioxidant properties.
The research group manipulated the plant isoprenoid pathway through the utilization of a variant of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A synthase (HMGS). The overexpression of HMGS in tomatoes increased not only phytosterols, squalene, provitamin A and lycopene, but also vitamin E (α-tocopherol) by 494 per cent.
The HMGS DNA used in these experiments originated from a food crop, Brassica juncea (Indian mustard) that yields edible leaves, stems and seeds, the latter used in vegetable oil production.
The researchers believe that extracts with enriched phytosterols, vitamin E and carotenoids can be used in the production of anti-ageing cream and sun-care lotion. These compounds show excellent anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activity.
