Non-Browning Bananas Move Closer to Hitting Supermarket Shelves
The fruit uses gene editing to slow browning, and Tropic says tests showed it stayed fresh for up to eight days after slicing.
- The Environment Secretary has approved a marketing notice for a gene-edited banana developed by Tropic Biosciences, though the fruit must still pass Food Standards Agency checks before reaching consumers in England.
- Tropic Biosciences used CRISPR-Cas9 technology to alter three genes, preventing the plant from producing the PPO enzyme which causes browning when exposed to oxygen.
- Work with retailers shows the banana can retain freshness for up to eight days after slicing, addressing the 1.4 million edible bananas discarded annually in England.
- The fruit previously received regulatory approval in Brazil and Japan, and the firm estimates reducing food waste and CO2 emissions by over 25 per cent could support an annual reduction of over nine million tonnes of emissions.
- England introduced the Precision Breeding Act in 2023 to allow the sale of gene-edited crops, but no precision-bred organisms have yet been authorized for sale in England despite Defra officials highlighting potential sustainability benefits.
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Genetically edited bananas that retain the color of freshly peeled fruit could soon be hitting British stores. According to the Norwich-based agricultural biotechnology company Tropic, which developed the fruit, the bananas have the same taste and texture, but “remain fresh, yellow and appetizing for longer when peeled and sliced,” reports The Guardian.
It looks like a normal banana, tastes like that according to the manufacturer - but gets much slower brown. A genetically modified variety has now taken an important approval hurdle in England. The developers hope to reduce food waste significantly.
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Non-browning bananas move closer to hitting supermarket shelves
The bananas have been developed by editing the DNA of bananas to stop them from turning brown once cut open.
The agricultural biotechnology company Tropic has succeeded in modifying the DNA of bananas. The result: a banana that turns brown less quickly. This helps to significantly reduce food waste and environmentally harmful emissions. This has been made possible by the use of the innovative CRISPR-Cas technology.
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