Diet
CREA specialists have managed to select varieties rich in anthocyanins and lycopene
A special orange is born, a super concentrate of antioxidants that acts as a natural supplement, a fruit developed in Italy that through noble nutrients can have healthy effects. For a long time the citrus fruits are known to be a concentrate of vitamins and other useful substances salute. But in the future it will be possible to have even more: the Olive, Fruit and Citrus Growing Centre CREA (Council for Agricultural Research and Analysis of Agricultural Economics) has in fact selected super oranges enriched with anthocyanins e lycopeneprecious antioxidants which help the prevention because they help protect the body from tumors, cardiovascular diseases, Parkinson’s disease, diabetes and problems related toobesity.
Citrus tarot and sanguine
The results of the work developed by CREA specialists with the “genome editing” have been published in the international journal Frontiers in Plant Science.
Using as a starting point 5 different sweet oranges pigmented with anthocyanins, belonging to the varieties Tarot e Bloodand the “Carrizo” citrange with the function of rootstock for the transformation of citrus fruits, the CREA specialists have succeeded in creating varieties of pigmented orange rich in anthocyaninswhich in the future will be able to bear fruit containing a good dose of lycopene thanks to the fact that in the new plants the beta cyclase gene, responsible in the traditional varieties for the transformation of lycopene into beta-carotene, has been “switched off”.
genome editing
“This is the first time that genome editing has been used in research to produce citrus varieties with anthocyanins and lycopene in the pulp“, explains Concetta Licciardello, first CREA-OFA researcher and coordinator of the work. “The most widespread and consumed citrus fruits present either one or the other compoundwhile thanks to this innovative technique oranges with anthocyanins can now also produce lycopene. A further, very important advantage lies in the fact that genome editing allows you to intervene with ‘molecular scissors’ to act on a specific character without altering the genetic background of a strainthus respecting the peculiarities of ‘made in Italy’, as for example in the case of blood oranges“.