Modern biotechnology can be used to slow down the process of spoilage so that fruit can ripen longer on the plant and then be transported to the consumer with a still reasonable shelf life. This improves the taste, texture and appearance of the fruit. More importantly, it could expand the market for farmers in developing countries due to the reduction in spoilage.
The first genetically modified food product was a tomato which was transformed to delay its ripening (35). Researchers in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines and Vietnam are currently working on delayed-ripening papaya in collaboration with the University of Nottingham and Zeneca (36).
Biotechnology in cheese production: enzymes produced by micro-organisms provide an alternative to animal rennet – a cheese coagulant - and an alternative supply for cheese makers. This also eliminates possible public concerns with animal-derived material, although there is currently no plans to develop synthetic milk, thus making this argument less compelling. Enzymes offer an animal-friendly alternative to animal rennet. While providing comparable quality, they are theoretically also less expensive.
About 85 million tons of wheat flour is used every year to bake bread[20]. By adding an enzyme called maltogenic amylase to the flour, bread stays fresher longer. Assuming that 10-15% of bread is thrown away, if it could just stay fresh another 5–7 days then 2 million tons of flour per year would be saved. That corresponds to 40% of the bread consumed in a country such as the USA. This means more bread becomes available with no increase in input. In combination with other enzymes, bread can also be made bigger, more appetizing and better in a range of ways.
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