Cut of the crop High-yields of non-browning eggplant via genome editing

Recent technological advances are making it possible to quickly breed bountiful and desirable crops. Dr Martin Kottackal and colleagues at the Khalifa Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (KCGEB) are making strides in this area. A leading institute in the United Arab Emirates, the KCGEB is under The Presidential Court and In an uncut eggplant, the PPO enzyme and polyphenols do not interact, and the fruit remains white on the inside. But when the fruit is cut or damaged, cell compartments are disrupted and release the polyphenols and PPO, which then undergo oxidation. Enzymatic browning can also increase when the fruit has been physically damaged, for example, during harvest and transportation, resulting in food wastage. Plant breeders have therefore aimed to produce eggplants that do not undergo enzymatic browning.