Sanatech Seed Co., Ltd., together with its partner for sales Pioneer EcoScience Co, Ltd., has announced that the commercial sales of Sicilian Rouge High GABA, their genome-edited tomatoes with increased gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) will begin on September 15, 2021.

Developed in collaboration with the University of Tsukuba, the genome-edited high-GABA tomato was launched in seedling gardening kits in May 2021 and was received positively by their home gardener consumer panel. The overwhelming response and strong interest from this group prompted commercial sales in September. A puree product made of the same tomato will also be available at a later date.

Sanatech Seed's Sicilian Rouge High GABA tomato was developed using CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing technology. The tomato contains high levels of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), an amino acid believed to aid relaxation and help lower blood pressure. According to Shimpei Takeshita, President of Sanatech Seed and Chief Innovation Officer of Pioneer EcoScience, the exclusive distributor of the tomato, it contains four to five times more GABA than a regular tomato. Sanatech Seed received a parental line of the Sicilian Rouge variety from Pioneer EcoScience, and developed the F1 variety "Sicilian Rouge High GABA" with enhanced GABA content through gene editing.

For more details, read the news release from Sanatech Seed.