The Biotechnology & Biological Sciences Research Council has awarded almost £500,000 to a team at Warwick HRI to identify genes in broccoli to extend its shelf-life and maintain its nutritional value for longer.
“One of the problems is that broccoli turns yellow in the fridge quite quickly,” said David Pink, the research team leader at Warwick HRI.
“What we are going to do in this project is to look at the genetics of the vegetable and, in effect, come up with a DNA profile of what makes a good broccoli that stays green and does not go floppy,”
Professor Pink and his team will also be looking at the brassica’s nutritional value.
“We already have some evidence that nutrients start dropping as soon as the heads have been harvested,” he said.
“About half of the vitamin C content is lost after about three days. What we are also going to try to look at is if we can use genetics to retain the nutrients in the head.
“This could involve looking for genes in other brassicas such as cauliflower or cabbage that are not present in broccoli.”
The funding for the project is part of a programme of £13 million of research projects announced by the BBSRC.
Other projects will look at growing crops to cope with climate change and exploiting plants to produce better biodegradable carrier bags, for example.
No comments yet