INTRODUCTION ABOUT GM FOOD

Genetically modified organisms (GMO) can be defined as an organism whether from plants,
animals or microorganisms in which the genetic material (DNA) has been changed in a way that does
not occur naturally by mating or natural recombination. This technology is often called as
“recombinant DNA technology” or sometimes called as a “genetic engineering”. It allows some
selected individual genes to be transferred from one organism to another even in nonrelated species.
Thus, foods that produced from or by using GM organisms are often referred as a GM foods. One of
the objectives for developing plants based on GM organisms is actually to improve crop protection.
The GM crops currently on the market are mainly aimed at an increased level of crop protection
through the introduction of resistance against plant diseases that mostly caused by insects or increased
through tolerance towards herbicides.

For the resistance against insects is achieved by incorporating into the gene of food plant for
toxic production from the Bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt). This toxic is actually used as a
conventional insecticide in agriculture and it is safe for human consumption. Moreover, GM crops that
inherently produce the toxic have been shown to have require lower quantities of insecticides in
specific situations. Meanwhile, for herbicide tolerance is achieved through the introduction of a gene
from Bacterium conveying resistance to some herbicides. For this situation is where the weed pressure
is high and the use of such crops has resulted in a reduction in some quantity of the herbicides used.
 Figure 1:Pink pineapple

For this task, we will describe one of the GM food which is pineapple. Basically, a strain of
pineapple was genetically engineered to be pink instead of yellow. This pink pineapple shown in figure
1 have been developed since 2005 and are the brainchild of Del Monte Fresh Produce which one of the
world’s largest produce suppliers. In December 2016, the U.S Food and Drug Administration gave the
enhanced fruits official seal of approval. The new pineapple has genetically engineered to produce
lower levels of the enzymes which already in conventional pineapple that convert the pink pigment
lycopene to the yellow pigment beta carotene. Lycopene is also the pigment that makes tomatoes red
and watermelon pink and it is commonly safe to consume. The increased presence of lycopene in this
pineapple may or may not give benefits to cancer fighter. The new pineapples have rosy pink flesh and
are said to taste sweeter than the ordinary ones. The pineapple is actually grown in Costa Rica where it
was first developed in 2012 and was approved for importation by USDA in April 2013.
HOW ‘ROSE’ PINAPPLE ARE PRODUCED?

Del Monte Fresh Company introduced pink flesh pineapple that also known as Rose Pineapple.
Rose or pink flesh pineapple is a result of down-regulating the gene β-LCY, which encodes the enzyme
Lycopene beta-cyclase. This genes of interest are derived from edible plant species, pineapple and

tangerine. Lycopene is a bright red carotene and carotenoid pigment. The structure of lycopene is very
similar to that of carotene, except that it has a psi-end group at both ends as shown in figure 2.
Figure 2 : Difference structures of Lycopene and Carotene

When the enzyme lycopene beta-cyclase acts on one end, the enzyme forms gamma-carotene
(Araya-Garay et al. 2011). When acting on both ends, it forms beta-carotene. Beta-carotene is the
pigment responsible for the orange colour of carrots. To achieve its novel fruit color, Del Monte Fresh
has altered expression of genes involved in lycopene. Lycopene, as a carotene, consists only hydrogen
and carbon with chemical formula of C40H56, with eleven conjugated double bonds (Kong et al., 2010).

These double bonds act as donator as they donate their electron to any free radicals in cells,
preventing potential cell damage. Therefore this is a trait which producers are keen to highlight in their
produce. Actually, lycopene already occurs naturally in pineapples. The reason the fruit isn't pink is that
pineapples also produce enzymes that convert lycopene into the familiar golden pigment. But Del
Monte genetically modified the pineapple to produce fewer of those gold-making enzymes and left
alone, the lycopene will develop pink fruit.