Objective
The immediate objective of this project is to provide the tools for an extensive and sustainable exploitation of amaranth. The project will contribute to the overall development objective of providing health-promoting food and exploiting the industrial use of amaranth and thus provide a source for income in regions of the world, where the warm and dry climate makes the cultivation of amaranth the obvious choice.
The effects of food on human health are central issues both in Europe and in Latin America. Malnourished children and adults living in rural areas need much better access to protein-rich food supply. Amaranth grains and leaves are protein-rich and have a good balance of essential amino acids. Amaranth is a C4 plant, resistant to drought and heat. Strong efforts have been done by for instance FAO, in retrieving and disseminating the knowledge of amaranth cultivation However, a range of still not solved problems for the sustainable use of amaranth exist.
Modern technologies have become available to researchers both in Europe and Latin America. With these tools the properties of amaranth species can now be elucidated with the purpose of targeted breeding of new varieties and thus improving the basis for amaranth cultivation and exploitation, - for achieving food security and for industrialized exploitation. We will perform a systematized study of the industrial exploitation of individual amaranth constituents; evaluate the health effects on humans and animals of amaranth based food; identify genes and gene complexes responsible for resistance to insects, fungi, drought and salinity and select varieties with high competitiveness.
Amaranth genotypes will be cultivated in varying sites and monitored. Multivariate statistical analysis will be applied to the generated data to identify correlated patterns among gene expression. Amaranth cultivation will be introduced in Nicaragua to empower Nicaraguan single provider women for obtaining food security
Fields of science
- agricultural sciencesagriculture, forestry, and fisheriesagriculturegrains and oilseeds
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesmicrobiologymycology
- medical and health scienceshealth sciencesnutrition
- natural sciencesbiological scienceszoologyentomology
- natural scienceschemical sciencesorganic chemistryamines
Topic(s)
Call for proposal
FP6-2004-INCO-DEV-3
See other projects for this call