Proffesional Article in Physics
LEMATO:
LEMON AND TOMATO FUSION
by: Rachel Ann Pama
THE TOMATO
Health benefits of tomato have been
known to mankind since ages. Tomato contains large amount of lycopene, an
antioxidant highly effective in scavenging cancer causing free radicals. This benefit
can be obtained from even heat-processed tomato products, including ketchup.
The lycopene in tomato fights against cancer and has been shown to be
particularly effective in fighting prostate cance
r,
cervical cancer, cancer of the stomach and rectum as well as pharynx and
esophageal cancers. It also protects against breast cancer and cancer of mouth
according to studies published Harvard School of Public Health.
Health benefits of tomato include
improved eye sight, good gut health, and low hypertension, relief from diabetes,
skin problems and urinary tract infections. Tomato is considered both a fruit
and vegetable and forms an integral part of the cuisine all across the globe
especially in the Mediterranean region. Daily consumption of tomato provides
a great boost to health apart from improving the flavor of food. It is a
rich source of vitamins and minerals and exerts a protective effect
against cardiovascular diseases. It also improves eye health and prevents
hypertension and urinary tract infections.
THE LEMON
Citrus
fruit such as lemon have also many benefits. But not just like the tomato,
lemons are commonly used for fragrance or as an air freshener. Lemons have many
external uses. Copper can be polished by rubbing it with a lemon juice. It also
helps to removes nasty odors from garbage disposal and freshen the drain. It
can create natural air freshener by mixing lemon juice and water.Clean your
windows and glass by rubbing lemon juice on them. Try to rub orange or lemon
peels on your exposed skin to keep away mosquitoes and gnats, and people having
trouble with their barking puppies can able to stop them by getting a squirt of
lemon juice in their mouths. These are some of the external uses of lemon.
Maybe some of us never know the uses of lemon before, but this time you are
informed.
After
learning the health benefits of tomato, and after knowing the external uses of
lemon, how about if this two different fruit comes into fusion? A Lemato!
THE LEMATO
A Tomato with the scents of lemon,
is it possible? This question motivates some researchers to solve this kind of
problem. They never stops finding the possibility if a tomato can give the
aroma of lemon. Their mission started,
the process is hybrid, mission completed, the success has achieved, and now
Lemato emerge.
A lemon & a tomato does not
seem to be the most natural pair, but this has not prevented Israeli
researchers bring us Lemato! Unlike other genetically modified fruits and
vegetables created mainly for health reasons, it is guessed that the lemato was
only an experiment to find whether it was possible to emit the smell of lemon
by the process called crossbreeding. Hybrid is the offspring of parents that
differ in genetically determined traits. The parents may be of different
species, genera, or families. The term hybrid, therefore, has a wider
application than the terms mongrel or crossbreed, which usually refer to
animals or plants resulting from a cross between two races, breeds, strains, or
varieties of the same species. There are many species hybrids in nature (in
ducks, oaks, blackberries, etc.), and, although naturally.
Israeli researchers say they have
genetically engineered tomatoes to give hints of lemon and rose aromas that
have done well in testing on volunteers.The transgenic tomato includes a gene
from a variety of lemon basil, Ocimumbasilicum, that produces an aroma-making
enzyme called geraniol synthase, EfraimLewinsohn of NeweYaar Research Centre
and colleagues report.
A panel of 82 people has tested the
experimental fruit against unmodified counterparts.
Nearly all of them were able to
detect novel aromas, which the testers variously described as
"perfume", "rose", "geranium" and
"lemongrass".When put to the taste, the genetically modified (GM)
tomatoes were preferred by 49 members of the panel, while 29 preferred
unmodified tomatoes and four expressed no preference.The GM tomatoes have only
a light red color, though, because they have only half as much lycopene as
conventional tomatoes. In addition to conferring a bright blush to tomatoes,
lycopene is an antioxidant, a compound credited with health-giving qualities.Offsetting
the low levels of lycopene are higher levels of compounds called volatile
terpenoids, which possess antimicrobial, pesticidal and antifungal qualities,
so the GM tomato may have longer shelf life and need less pesticide to grow,
Lewinsohn contends.The team believes that other crops and flowers that, like
tomatoes, produce carotenoids could also be engineered to change their smell
and taste.
The first genetically-modified
tomato, the so-called FlavrSavr, hit the US market in 1994. It had a modified
gene that was involved in fruit softening, meaning that the tomato could be
left to ripen on the vine and have a longer shelf life.FlavrSavr was eventually
withdrawn because of disappointing sales.
Today, no genetically modified
tomatoes are being commercially grown in the United States, according to, a
European Commission-backed website for information about GM crops.Fresh GM
tomatoes have never gone in sale in Europe and other markets where there are
worries about the environmental and health impact from transgenic food.
CONCLUSION
Crossbreeding
is prohibited by our Creator but man is hard headed and disobeyed the law of
nature. Biblically speaking, in LEVITICUS 19:19 says, Ye shall keep my
statutes. Thou shalt not let thy cattle engender with a diverse kind: thou
shalt not sow thy field with mingled seed: neither shall a garment mingled of
linen and woolen come upon thee.
REFERENCES:
Journal: Nature Biotechnology
Title: ".Enrichment of tomato
flavor by diversion of the early plastidialtorpedoed pathway".
The Bible KING JAMES VERSION
LEVITICUS 19:19
