During her doctoral project, Charlotte De Bruyn (VIB-UGent Center for Plant Systems Biology and ILVO) managed to develop witloof and chicory that are less bitter. Using the gene-editing technique CRISPR/Cas9, the genes responsible for the bitter taste were specifically altered, with success. Her findings offer prospects for breeding other bitter crops such as Brussels sprouts and endive.
Bittersweet
Witloof is on the list of most eaten vegetables in Belgium. It has great nutritional and economic value in our country. But the vegetable has been losing popularity among consumers in recent years, and this is due to its bitter taste. In addition, the food industry is also looking into reducing bitterness in root chicory - a crop related to witloof and a distinguished source of inulin, which is widely used as a dietary fiber and sugar substitute. Developing witloof and chicory varieties with gradations of bitterness not only means greater consumer choice but also a more sustainable food production process.
"Charlotte's research provides unique insights into the mechanisms by which plants produce bitter substances. This fundamental knowledge creates numerous new opportunities to adapt the bitterness of crops such as witloof and root chicory to the needs and desires of the end-users," concludes promoter Prof. Alain Goossens (VIB-UGent Center for Plant Systems Biology).
Promoter Katrijn Van Laere (ILVO): "The identification and characterization of the genes involved is a major step forward in understanding how plants produce bitter substances. With this fundamental knowledge, we can now screen large existing populations of plants for natural variations in their DNA leading to the same effect."
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