The Rosé, or Pinkglow, pineapple is a unique fruit that appears outwardly similar to its conventional yellow counterpart, yet reveals a blushing, pink-hued interior. Developed by Del Monte Fresh Produce, this variety was deliberately modified to achieve a novel color and flavor profile. Explaining how this striking color change was achieved requires understanding the specific biochemical alterations and the precise laboratory methods used to engineer the new variety.
The Biological Mechanism Behind the Pink Color
The pink color of this fruit is due to the accumulation of lycopene, a naturally occurring carotenoid pigment present in all pineapples. Lycopene gives tomatoes their red color and watermelons their rosy hue. In a standard yellow pineapple, a specific enzyme acts as a biochemical converter, changing the pink lycopene into the yellow beta-carotene pigment as the fruit matures. The key to the pink pineapple’s color is the suppression of the gene that creates this conversion enzyme, known as lycopene beta-cyclase. Silencing the enzyme’s production blocks the conversion process.
This allows lycopene to accumulate within the fruit’s flesh, retaining the natural pink pigment through ripening. The color change is purely internal, meaning the exterior rind remains the typical bronze-brown color of a conventional pineapple.
The Genetic Modification Process
The suppression of the lycopene-converting enzyme is accomplished through RNA interference (RNAi), a precise genetic technique. RNAi is a natural cellular process that scientists harness to intentionally “silence” a target gene. Researchers introduce a genetic construct into the pineapple cells that generates a short, double-stranded RNA molecule. This molecule is designed to match and bind to the messenger RNA (mRNA) carrying the instructions for the lycopene beta-cyclase enzyme. Once bound, the cell’s machinery recognizes the double-stranded structure and destroys the mRNA.
This effectively stops the production of the lycopene beta-cyclase protein. The new genetic material is typically introduced using Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation, where a bacterium transfers DNA to a host plant cell. After successful transformation, scientists use tissue culture techniques to grow the single modified cells into full, mature pineapple plants. This development process, which began around 2005, required more than a decade of research, field testing, and propagation to ensure the modified trait was stable and viable for commercial harvest.
Regulatory Status and Consumer Safety
Before the pink pineapple could be sold commercially, it underwent a thorough safety evaluation by government agencies. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) were the primary bodies involved in the regulatory assessment. The USDA first approved the importation and testing of the variety in 2013, focusing on its agricultural and environmental impact.
The FDA conducted a voluntary consultation with the developer, Del Monte, providing extensive data regarding the genetic change, nutritional profile, and potential for unintended effects. The FDA’s safety assessment determined that the modified pineapple was as safe and nutritious as its conventional counterparts. This conclusion is rooted in the concept of “Substantial Equivalence,” meaning the food shares the same general composition as a traditional food. Since the pink color is caused by lycopene, a pigment common in the human diet through foods like tomatoes, the FDA found no unresolved safety concerns. The product is required to be identified at the retail level and is labeled as “extra sweet pink flesh pineapple” to distinguish it from the yellow variety.