TOMATO PRODUCT QUALITY FROM TRANSGENIC FRUITS WITH REDUCED PECTIN METHYLESTERASE

Juice from transgenic tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum cv Rutgers) frui ts with reduced levels of pectin methylesterase (PME) activity due to the expression of a PME antisense gene exhibited improvement in qualit y. The percentage increase in juice from transgenic fruits over that o f juice from wild type Rutgers ranged between 5.1-5.3 for total solids , 3.8-6.1 for soluble solids, 70-80 for efflux viscosity, 180-220 for serum viscosity and about 50 for precipitate weight ratio. Time of har vest had no effect on quality of juice. Ketchup prepared from transgen ic fruit juice had a lower Bostwick value, reduced serum separation an d high serum viscosity compared to ketchup from parental Rutgers.