Video interview with Dr. Roger Hellens of HortResearch New Zealand
on the employment of Fruit Genomics to research natural new fruit cultivars

At the occasion of Fruit Logistica 2007 in Berlin, FreshPlaza did an interview with Dr. Roger Hellens of HortResearch from New Zealand, discussing fruit genomics. This emerging area of science helps to understand how plants and fruit develop at a molecular level, which creates new opportunities to breed natural new fruit cultivars with novel tastes, colours and health properties, as well as trees that produce more and better fruit with fewer inputs.

At the base of these scientific efforts to understand fruit genomics, is a market research which indicates that health, taste and convenience are the key elements on which consumers base their purchasing decisions. HortResearch directs its efforts to focus its research on crops that can fulfil a model role for plant breeders to work towards to and which integrate properties like colour, flavour and health benefits to increase their ultimate appeal to consumers.

Isolation of the DNA determining certain crop characteristics, like the gene responsible for the red flesh in a red fleshed apple, can help plant breeders to identify plants carrying these genes, for example by sampling part of a leaf, even before the plants are in the stage of bearing fruit. Dr. Hellens also clarified that no genetic engineering is used for the newly developed cultivars, as these marketed varieties are all natural.

Click here to see the video interview

Publication date: February 15 2007
Author: André van der Wiel
Copyright: www.freshplaza.com