What do red petunias and lemons have in common?
They share a cell mechanism that regulates acid.
Ronald Koes at Univ. of Amsterdam discovered that red petunias have a vacuole proton pump that concentrates acid in their flower cells. Without the acid, those petunias would be blue.
He then examined DNA in a variety of citrus fruits, from sweet to very sour, and found that the sour ones have the same cell mechanism.
This discovery gives fruit and flower breeders a DNA marker for achieving desired colors and flavors.
Are red petunia flowers sour? … I’m not going to taste them to find out.
Read more about this discovery in Science Magazine.
(photos from Wikimedia Commons)
Although petunia flowers are not edible, tuberous begonia flowers are with a citrus tart taste. My neighborhood children are fascinated by this fact and come over and ask to eat them. I also use them in salads, particularly the orange ones.