Research

The overall goal of this innovation action is to improve the competitiveness of European legume crops. This will be achieved by establishing focused innovation partnerships between research- and industry-based players who together will increase the availability of well-adapted and productive cultivars of key legumes species. The partnership framework is designed to be sustained after the project ends with the ability to expand into other species. There are twelve objectives. Six of these relate to cross-cutting (generic) matters that arise from the call topic. Six are focused on the improvement of specific species, or groups of similar species: Soya bean Lupin Pea Common bean Lentil Clovers BOKU engagement in WPs: Soybean (J. Vollmann, R. Hood-Nowotny) Lupin (J. Strauss)

Secondary plant metabolites (SPM) are contained in vegetables, fruit, pulses, nuts and wholegrain products and give fruit and vegetables and products made from them many health-promoting properties. The DGE recommends a high intake of vegetables and fruit, including pulses and nuts, as well as wholegrain products to ensure a good supply of phytochemicals to support wellbeing. The content of SPS in plant-based raw materials and products depends on numerous factors, such as plant species, variety, growing conditions, storage and, of course, processing and preservation, which are the focus of research. The effects of processing on the various secondary plant metabolites can vary greatly, depending on the process, the content is reduced or may even be more available. While processing is beneficial in terms of availability, heat, oxygen and mechanical processing have a reducing effect on other substances. There is therefore a need for further research on specific products in order to determine actual changes and counteract the losses. The aim of the research is therefore to quantify the losses along the processing chain of sprouts, from the raw material to the finished product, based on the antioxidant potential.

Dogs, as reliable partners for humans, are increasingly used as species detection dogs in nature conservation or for searching for invasive species. Thanks to their extraordinary sense of smell, trained sniffer dogs are able to detect even the slightest traces of odor molecules such as volatile organic substances from plants. In this project, we use this ability to search for native and invasive poisonous plants with pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs) in herb and spice fields. Regular consumption of PAs can be carcinogenic even in relatively small quantities and, in higher doses, can lead to irreversible liver damage. Even extremely low levels of contamination with PAs from poisonous plants can mean that herbs or spices are no longer allowed to be sold in the EU according to updated EU PA limits for those products. Despite the most careful control, contamination with PAs can occur. In addition to native PA poisonous plants such as common groundsel (Senecio vulgaris), there are also invasive species such as the eastern groundsel (S. vernalis) or the narrow-leaved ragwort (S. inaequidens), which have been introduced from Eastern Europe and Southern Africa, respectively. The changed environmental conditions caused by climate change could mean that these invasive species can increasingly establish themselves in arable crops and could thereby endanger food security. Experienced search dogs are trained to detect these poisonous plants using fresh and dried plant material at different stages of development from multiple origins. At the same time, the volatile organic compounds of these samples are also analyzed in order to be able to estimate how the content and composition of essential oils influences the detection success. In the second year of the project, searches will be carried out in different herb and spice fields in order to determine whether specially trained poisonous plant detection dogs are more efficient in searching for Senecio species than human experts and which environmental factors have the greatest influence on precision, sensitivity and efficiency. The use of detection dogs represents a particularly innovative approach to detect potential poisonous plants as early as possible in order to reduce the use of manpower and the use of weed control measures.