When life gives you grapefruit… BLECH!
This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science.
Bitter fruits can be hard to enjoy. Citrus grown in colder climates is extra bitter! If only there was a way to turn bitter into sweet…
Well, Elena Plesser and team at the Institute of Plant Sciences crossed a bitter grapefruit with a sweet mandarin. They pinpointed a single gene that produces the bitter tasting compound.
By inserting a mutation in this gene, they removed all the bitterness from the grapefruit. Yum!
Citrus fruits can help prevent infections and support the immune system. Now citrus from colder regions can keep all those SWEET benefits.
What do you mean, it’s SUPPOSED to be a “grown up” taste?
Reference: Plesser, E., Goldenberg, L., Kelly, G., Bdolach, E., Arad, T., Bejerano, E., Masok, O., Carmeli‐Weissberg, M., Shaya, F., Sherman, A., Eyal, Y., & Carmi, N. (2025). Targeting the “bitterness gene” by genome editing abolishes synthesis of bitter flavanones in citrus; prospects for new varieties and extended climates for cultivation. The Plant Journal, 124(6). https://doi.org/10.1111/tpj.70654