Israeli Scientists Discover Way to Enhance Flower Scent

A rose that smells like jasmine may seem far-fetched, but a team of scientists at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem has found a way to genetically enhance the scent of flowers and implant a scent in those that don't have one. The method could also lead to tastier fruits and vegetables, since aroma is of major importance in determining taste.

In a paper published in the Plant Biotechnology Journal, Alexander Vainstein succeeded, together with other researchers, to find a way of enhancing the scent of a flower by ten-fold and cause it to emit a scent during day and night - irrespective of the natural rhythm of scent production .

The flower industry will also be interested in this development, says Vainstein. "Many flowers lost their scent over many years of breeding. Recent developments will help to create flowers with increased scent as well as producing new scent components in the flowers." Israel is the Middle East’s number one cut flower exporter, with an industry worth an estimated 200 million dollars. The development, which has been patented by Yissum, the Hebrew University's technology transfer company, is also intended to be applied to other agricultural produce.

The press release is available at http://www.hunews.huji.ac.il/articles.asp?cat=6&artID=931. Read the abstract of the research paper at http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/119421127/abstract