Tomatoes that have been gene-edited to produce vitamin D, known as the sunshine vitamin, could be a simple and sustainable innovation to address a worldwide health problem.
Researchers used gene editing to turn off a specific molecule in the plant’s genome which increased provitamin D3 in both the fruit and leaves of tomato plants. It was then transformed into vitamin D3 through exposure to UVB light. When growing tomatoes leaves are usually waste material, but those of the edited plants could be used for the manufacture of vegan-friendly vitamin D3 supplements, or for food fortification.
That is great news for people adopting a plant-rich, vegetarian or vegan diet, and for the growing number of people worldwide suffering from the problem of vitamin D insufficiency.
Source : Scitechdaily