A Norwich-based biotechnology company called Tropic has developed gene-edited bananas designed to maintain their yellow color and freshness for an extended period after peeling and slicing. The fruit retains the same taste and texture as conventional bananas but resists browning for one to two additional days, or longer when refrigerated. According to the company’s chief executive, this innovation could facilitate the incorporation of bananas into prepackaged products such as fruit salads and breakfast items while simultaneously reducing overall food waste.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs granted a marketing notice approval for the bananas last week, confirming their precision-bred status. This classification indicates that the genetic modifications introduced could theoretically have been achieved through conventional breeding techniques. Unlike genetically modified organisms, precision-bred plants do not contain DNA from unrelated species. The Food Standards Agency defines precision-bred status based on this distinction and has regulatory oversight of such products.
Trip employed Crispr-Cas9 gene-editing technology to alter all three copies of a single gene in the banana, reducing the production of polyphenol oxidase, an enzyme responsible for browning. The company projects that widespread adoption of non-browning bananas could cut food waste and CO2-equivalent emissions by more than 25% in the banana export sector, potentially reducing annual CO2 emissions by over 9 million tonnes. Government research indicates that 1.4 million edible bananas are discarded daily, with approximately one-third of consumers citing cosmetic blemishes as reasons for disposal.
The next step involves a safety review by the Food Standards Agency, though the timeline for completion remains uncertain. Precision-bred plant regulations took effect in November of last year and currently apply only to England, though approved products can be distributed to Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland under specific conditions. Tropic has already obtained regulatory approval in 10 additional countries including Japan, Brazil, and the Philippines, with cultivation already underway in Latin America. This marks the first precision-bred organism to advance through the UK approval process.
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