Non-GM technology for ESL tomatoes

AGRICULTURAL technology company Arcadia Biosciences, Inc. has been granted a key technology patent for Extended Shelf Life (ESL) tomatoes by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The patent covers the non-transgenic modification of a gene in tomato plants that slows the post-harvest ripening of the tomato.

Using a non-GM advanced screening and breeding technique called TILLING?, Arcadia has selected tomato lines with altered function of the non-ripening (nor) gene. This results in tomatoes that retain the desirable qualities of vine-ripened fruit, but are resistant to rapid postharvest softening.

Globally, an estimated 10 to 35 percent of tomatoes are lost to post-harvest spoilage. Arcadia’s ESL technology will allow tomatoes to maintain fresh quality, better flavor and nutrition while retaining the firmness needed during the shipping and marketing process, and is expected to benefit both fresh and processed producers in the tomato supply chain.

“This technology offers tremendous value for both producers and consumers of tomato food products, including fresh market tomatoes, canned tomatoes, ketchups, soups, sauces, pastes and juices,” said Eric Rey, president and CEO of Arcadia Biosciences.

Producers benefit from reduced waste and spoilage during production and shipping, providing consumers with fully ripe and fresh tomatoes.

Arcadia’s ESL technology uniquely offers intermediate levels of ripening that can be recombined using traditional breeding to produce tomatoes that are superior to existing elite commercial varieties for both producers and consumers.Other alterations to the non-ripening gene in tomatoes are widely available, but they adversely impact tomato flavor because their effects are too severe.

The ESL technology was developed in part under a U.S. Department of Defense contract to develop longer-lasting fresh produce for field troops stationed in remote locations.