Agroinfiltration of Phytoene Desaturase and Lycopene Β-Cyclase Genes from Bacterial Source in Tomato (Solanum Lycopersicum L.) Enhances Nutritional and Processing Quality of its Juice

Abstract

ABSTRACTThere has been considerable interest in the value of carotenoids due to their high nutritional and nutraceutical properties. We have earlier shown that agroinfiltration with Agrobacterium tumifaciens GV 3101 containing binary vector pRI 101(I) harboring CrtI gene (Phytoene desaturase) and binary vector pRI 101(Y) harboring CrtY gene (Lycopene β-cyclase) from bacterial sources increases carotenoids in tomatoes. In the present study, the juice prepared from fruits having CrtY gene had higher content of β-carotene (0.60 mg 100 mL−1), lycopene (0.40 mg 100 mL−1) and total phenolics (11.41 μg GAE mL−1) compared to juice prepared from control fruits (0.47 mg 100 mL−1, 0.32 mg 100 mL−1 and 11.22 μg GAE mL−1, respectively), and it showed better antioxidant potential (DPPH IC50 value of 27.6) than that of non-transgenic fruit juice (56.4 μL mL−1). The juice from fruits having CrtY gene also had lower Bostwick value (7.5 cm min−1) than control fruits (9.8 cm min−1), indicating improvement in processing quality because of gene integration. Juice prepared from agroinfiltrated tomatoes may benefit both consumers as well as juice processing industry due to their high nutritional value and better processing quality.