Healthier orange juice could be the result of British scientists seeing red.

Researchers hope to turn ordinary fruit into blood oranges by manipulating their genes.

The distinctive red pigment is believed to have health benefits which include combating obesity and heart disease.

One recent study found that drinking blood orange juice with a full English breakfast reduced the harmful effects of a fat-laden fry-up.

Scientists writing in The Plant Cell journal described how they identified the "ruby" gene that makes the blood orange red. They also discovered how the gene is activated, raising the possibility of switching it on in ordinary "blond" orange varieties.

Blood oranges need a period of cold as they ripen and currently the only place where they can be reliably grown on a commercial scale is in the foothills of Mount Etna in Sicily in the Mediterranean. As a result, blood orange juice is hard to come by and a carton costs about 1 more than ordinary orange juice.

Professor Cathie Martin, who led the research team from the John Innes Centre in Norwich, said: "Blood oranges contain naturally occurring pigments associated with improved cardiovascular health, controlling diabetes and reducing obesity.

"Our improved understanding of this trait could offer relatively straightforward solutions to growing blood oranges reliably in warmer climates through genetic engineering."

A test batch of genetically created blood oranges is currently being grown in Valencia, Spain.

Speaking at a press conference in London, Prof Martin said: "Hopefully in the near future, seven years down the line, we will have blood orange varieties which can be grown in the major orange growing areas like Brazil and Florida. So blood orange juice will become more available worldwide and the healthy properties enjoyed by more and more people."

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Gene for blood orange identified

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