Descrizione del progetto
Proteggere le colture imitando i cristalli di cera naturali
I cristalli di cera sono piccoli e si trovano sulle cuticole di alcune piante, in particolare quelle superidrofobiche come il loto e i broccoli. Ispirandosi a queste piante, il progetto SafeWax, finanziato dall’UE, utilizzerà formulazioni a base di acidi grassi bioderivati e non tossici per creare un rivestimento protettivo con proprietà antiadesive, autopulenti e antimicotiche. Questa tecnologia innovativa mira a ridurre l’uso eccessivo e improprio di fungicidi chimici, che hanno implicazioni devastanti per l’ambiente e l’economia globale. Il rivestimento SafeWax sarà inizialmente dimostrato sulla vite, che è suscettibile alle malattie fungine. Oltre a proteggere le colture dalle infezioni fungine, il rivestimento biodegradabile impedirà i danni del sole e agevolerà la raccolta dell’acqua dalla condensa della rugiada, mitigando gli effetti dei cambiamenti climatici.
Obiettivo
According to the FAO, plant diseases cost the global economy around 210€ billion per year, and fungal pathogens destroy at least a third of all food crops annually. Commercial agriculture relies on chemical fungicides for crop protection owing to their easy application and low cost; however, their overuse and misuse have devastating implications for all living systems and the entire ecosystem. Thus, establishing sustainable crop protection strategies is essential for global economic development, environmental protection, and food security.
Inspired by superhydrophobic plants, such as lotus and broccoli which exhibit wax crystals on their cuticles, we propose a generic sustainable strategy for passive crop protection against fungal pathogens. Our biomimetic technology, termed SafeWax, relies on bio-derived non-toxic fatty acid-based sprayable formulations which self-assemble into a multifaceted protective coating with anti-adhesive, self-cleaning and antifungal properties. When applied on sensitive crops, which do not naturally exhibit wax crystals, SafeWax will synthetically render their foliage to passively resist pathogens. SafeWax concepts will initially be demonstrated on grapevine, as a relevant model crop of high importance to Europe’s economy, environment and culture, which is highly susceptible to fungal diseases and is the most-frequently treated crop. SafeWax will then be expanded to other sensitive commodity crops. The biodegradable SafeWax coating will not only protect crops from fungal infections but will also be tuned to provide UV radiation filtering, prevent sun damage, as well as facilitate water collection from dew condensation, mitigating inevitable effects of climate change.
SafeWax will revolutionize the global fungicides market (valued > 20 billion €), starting from the biofungicide market with a value of 3,2 billion € by 2025.
Campo scientifico
Parole chiave
Programma(i)
- HORIZON.3.1 - The European Innovation Council (EIC) Main Programme
Invito a presentare proposte
HORIZON-EIC-2022-PATHFINDEROPEN-01
Vedi altri progetti per questo bandoMeccanismo di finanziamento
HORIZON-EIC - HORIZON EIC GrantsCoordinatore
32000 Haifa
Israele