ABSTRACT
Vegetables are very important components of diet. Vegetables are highly perishable, and transportation, storage, and distribution require low-temperature conditions. Tomato is the major produce that is processed into juice and sauce. Preservation of nutritional components is compromised during processing. A genetically modified tomato, or transgenic tomato, is a tomato that has had its genes modified, using genetic engineering. The first commercially available genetically modified food was a tomato engineered to have a longer shelf life. Some tomatoes have been genetically engineered to alter one particular aspect of tomato ripening: softening. The process of fruit softening is caused in part by the breakdown of pectins—compounds which give support to the walls of tomato cells. Herbicide tolerant soyabean varieties contain a gene that provides resistance to one of two broad spectrum herbicides. This modified soyabean provides better weed control and reduces crop injury. Genes conditioning root pigmentation and sugar and terpenoid content are candidates for gene mapping in the near future.
