IS HI-TECH FRUIT THE ANSWER?

LAST WEEK scientists in Norwich announced that they had created a tomato which could be a source of vitamin D, vital for bone health and immunity, and which many of us lack.

The fruit, which looks and tastes like a regular tomato, has a gene edited so that when it is exposed to UV light, more of a vitamin D precursor in it (called provitamin D3) is converted into the nutrient.

And genetically edited fruit could also be a potential solution to the grapefruit interaction problem (see main story). New varieties of citrus hybrids are being bred by plant scientists to have fewer furanocoumarins, meaning potentially less interference with the way many medications are absorbed.

A test tube study by the University of Florida showed that juice from a new variety — initially developed for improved taste and eating quality — didn’t interfere with intestinal absorption. A small study comparing patients who drank normal grapefruit juice with those drinking the hybrid juice — at the same time as taking sedative midazolam — had mixed results, reported the Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, with neither group seeing changes in midazolam absorption.

However, it’s thought this was because the type of grapefruit used was naturally low in furanocoumarin. Levels can also vary according to the season, how the juice is extracted and whether UV or heat has been used in the process.

‘This is why you shouldn’t try to modify drug dosing to account for grapefruit juice intake, as you never actually know how much furanocoumarin is in each glass,’ says pharmacist Aidan Goggins.

‘With further select hybrid breeding programmes grapefruits could be grown with, on the one hand, much less furanocoumarin content and on the other a significant increase in health-boosting flavonoids such as hesperidin and naringin.’