The humble
spud – a vision in yellow?
Various
fruits and vegetables are attractive to consumers due to
their eye-catching colours. The idea that some of these
self-same colours might be indicators of health giving or
protective properties is being studied at
the Scottish Crop
Research Institute.
The red,
orange and yellow colours of fruit and vegetables, such as
carrots, citrus fruits, peppers and tomatoes are mainly due
to pigments called carotenoids
Carotenoids
are believed to protect against cancer, heart disease and
deterioration of eyesight in the aged. More than 250
million people mostly in the third world are deficient in
carotenoids such as beta-carotene, increasing risks of child
blindness, immune problems and other serious conditions.
Potatoes are eaten daily by millions worldwide, yet the vast
majority of varieties have zero or very low levels of
carotenoids, hence the white or very pale yellow
colouration.
A scientific
paper just published in the
Journal of Experimental Botany describes how scientists
at SCRI have used biotechnology to “boost” potato carotenoid
levels almost 6 fold, increasing the amount of beta-carotene
to levels higher than in “Golden Rice” which is also being
developed to aid nutrient deficiencies in the third world.
SCRI
scientists hope to transfer improvements in the nutritional
“fortification” of potato to developing countries if a multi
million dollar bid to the Bill and Melinda Gates “Global
Challenge in Human Health” Programme is successful.
Professor
Howard Davies, one of the co-ordinators of a European
Commission’s SAFE FOODS consortium and leader of the Gates
Foundation bid said “Where potato is an important staple
crop nutritional enhancement will provide major benefits.
This is not always possible using traditional breeding
approaches. However, it is up to individual developing
countries to decide how to use the technologies.”
Dr Mark
Taylor, the research leader for this project at SCRI, said
“This development is a breakthrough and shows the potential
we have to use biotechnology to improve levels of important
nutrients in a staple part of our diet.”
Photo:
Laurence Ducreux and Wayne Morris examine
potato tubers in the glasshouse
Publication details of the scientific paper:
Metabolic engineering of high carotenoid potato tubers
containing enhanced levels of beta-carotene and lutein.
Laurence J.M. Ducreux, Wayne L. Morris, Peter
E. Hedley, Tom Shepherd, Howard V. Davies, Steve Millam and
Mark A. Taylor (2004)
JXB Advance Access published on November 8, 2004
doi:10.1093/jxb/eri016
SCRI increases knowledge in plant and
environmental sciences:
-
To improve understanding of processes
that regulate plant growth and the plant’s response to
pests, pathogens and the environment;
-
To increase our knowledge of plant
genetics and diversity to improve methods of breeding
of crop varieties to satisfy consumers needs
-
To improve crop quality and nutritional
value
-
To develop environmentally benign methods
of protecting crops from pests, diseases and competition
from weeds.
SCRI is grant-aided by the Scottish Executive
Environment and Rural Affairs Department (SEERAD) conducts
research consistent with government policy and has
charitable status. It is one of five Scottish Agricultural
and Biological Research Institutes (SABRIs) which, together
with those of the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences
Research Council, form the agricultural and food research
service of the UK