Scientists Developing A Super Tomato: How They're Boosting This Key Vitamin In The Fruit

Tomatoes are known for being sweet and juicy, as well as full of antioxidants. If that's not enough, scientists have now developed a way to make them even healthier.

What Happened: Researchers have figured out how to increase the level of vitamin D3 in the fruit (that’s right, it’s not a vegetable).

Scientists used gene editing to turn off a specific molecule in the plant's genome, causing elevated levels of provitamin D3 in both the fruit and leaves of tomato plants. The exposure to sunlight then converts the provitamin into vitamin D3.

The research, led by Professor Cathie Martin at the John Innes Centre in the U.K., used CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing to revise the genetic code of tomato plants so that provitamin D3 accumulates in the tomato fruit.

Even though tomatoes naturally contain one of the building blocks of vitamin D3, the plant’s leaves contain very low levels of the provitamin, and this key substance doesn’t make its way to the ripe tomato fruit.

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With genetic editing, researchers were able to increase the level of provitamin D3 in the leaves to 600 ug (micrograms) per gram of dry weight, and to cause provitamin D3 to accumulate in the tomato fruit as well. The recommended daily intake of vitamin D for adults is 10 ug, which is the equivalent of 400 international units (IU) of vitamin D.

Why It Matters: "Forty percent of Europeans have vitamin D insufficiency and so do one billion people worldwide,” Professor Martin said. “We are not only addressing a huge health problem but are helping producers, because tomato leaves which currently go to waste, could be used to make supplements from the gene-edited lines."

The study found that by increasing the amount of sunlight exposure, the levels of vitamin D in these tomatoes can be elevated even more.

Health officials point out that the majority of foods contain little vitamin D and even plants are a poor source of this essential nutrient. One effective way to increase your level of vitamin D3, the most bioavailable form of vitamin D, is to simply expose your skin to sunlight.