Products & Services

PPO Inhibited Cherry

Bruising within blush-type cherries, the off-colouring of cherry fruit flesh and the browning of stems are common post harvest quality concerns among cherry growers, packers, exporters and importers. A number of factors attribute to these characteristics; however, the oxidation of phenolic compounds in cherries can be attributed to this problem.

OSF plans to utilize our knowledge of the Polyphenol oxidase (PPO) gene developed in our PPO inhibited apple project and to extend this into cherries. A PPO inhibited cherry is not as likely to have the off-colour and off-flavour problems found in normal cherries after post harvest packing and transit. Furthermore, most blush-type cherries bruise and mark easily.  The inhibition of PPO in these fruit will help improve their post harvest appearance.

As advancements to the cherry genomics and transformation systems take place, OSF will develop a PPO inhibited cherry to assess proof of concept concerning the quantifiable benefits and value of new PPO inhibited cherry varieties.  The company has a range of germplasm to work with and is actively following the outputs of breeding programs around the world.