Super broccoli has taken the brassica family to the world famous RHS Chelsea Flower Show in London this week, and Warwick HRI has won a gold medal for its stand.
The plant research department at the University of Warwick will show how far scientists have reached in breeding a range of super broccoli which will retain more antioxidants, use less pesticide and fertilizer and last longer on the supermarket shelves.
The stand will display a range of plants from the brassica family, including broccoli and oilseed rape.
Breeding better crops involves crossing plants that possess the best properties, usually from within the same crop. But this misses out the vast range of useful properties in the larger brassica family.
The Warwick HRI researchers are well-equipped to change this as they have access to one of the largest gene banks of vegetable brassicas in the world containing 6,000 plants.
Researchers have already identified cross breeding possibilities that will give broccoli a greater resistance to aphids and the bacteria Xanthomanos Campestris, which will reduce the amount of pesticides that have to be used on broccoli. This breeding programme will be complete within a decade.
Broccoli’s short shelf life means that supermarkets have to organise deliveries every three days, while most of their other vegetables are brought in on a four day cycle. The researchers have already taken the first steps to breed broccoli that lasts longer and expect the first varieties to hit the shelves within 10 years.
The cross breeding programme creating longer shelf life will also ensure that the broccoli’s health properties will not deteriorate.
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