Physicochemical Properties and Antioxidant Activity of CRISPR/Cas9-Edited Tomato Knockout (KO) Line.

Tomatoes contain many secondary metabolites such as -carotene, lycopene, phenols, flavonoids, and vitamin C, which are responsible for antioxidant activity. encodes a STAY-GREEN protein that plays a critical role in the regulation of chlorophyll degradation in tomato leaves and fruits. Therefore, the present study was conducted to evaluate the null lines based on their physicochemical characteristics, the content of secondary metabolites, and the -Aminobutyric acid (GABA) content. The total soluble solids (TSS), titrated acidity (TA), and brix acid ratio (BAR) of the null lines were higher than those of the wild type(WT). Additionally, the null lines accumulated higher levels of flavor-inducing ascorbic acid and total carotenoids compared to WT. Also, the total phenolic content, total flavonoids, GABA content, and 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical content of the null lines were higher than those of the WT. Therefore, these studies suggest that the knockout of the gene by the CRISPR/Cas9 system can improve various functional compounds in tomato fruit, thereby satisfying the antioxidant properties required by consumers.