Editor's Choice: In a major development of personalized nutrition, researchers in Italy have cultivated microgreens with customized nutritional profiles to meet individual dietary needs. The study, published in the Journal of Food and Agricultural Sciences, provides a blueprint for soilless cultivation of nutrient-rich plants in commercial greenhouse settings.In a major development of personalized nutrition, researchers in Italy have cultivated microgreens with customized nutritional profiles to meet individual dietary needs.
The study, published in the Journal of Food and Agricultural Sciences, provides a blueprint for soilless cultivation of nutrient-rich plants in commercial greenhouse settings.
Co-author: Massimiliano D'Imperio and Francesco Serio, both of whom work at the Institute of Food Production Sciences (ISPA) of the National Research Council (CNR); Massimiliano Renna, a professor of agricultural and environmental sciences at the University of Barrio do Moro in Italy, explains the motivation behind the study.
As people become more aware of the importance of following dietary recommendations, interest in personalized nutrition is on the rise. "Soilless biofortified vegetables open the door to adapting vegetable production to specific dietary needs. ”
The team cultivated four different plants – turnips, peas, rockets and Swiss chard – and focused on two nutrients that play a key role in health and nutrition: iodine and potassium.
Iodine is essential for thyroid function, with about 2 billion people worldwide deficient in iodine. Adding iodine to table salt is an international strategy used to combat deficiency, while others** in the human diet include fish, milk and eggs.
However, the World Health Organization's recommendation to reduce daily salt intake, coupled with an increase in vegetarian and vegan diets, means that the demand for alternative iodine** is growing.
Using a nutrient solution tailored to plant growth, the team successfully bred plants with 14 times higher iodine content than unfortified microvegetables as a new dietary iodine**.
They also grow microgreens with 45% lower potassium levels to meet the needs of people with chronic kidney disease – for whom potassium intake must be limited to avoid health complications.
Because vegetables contain high concentrations of potassium, patients with impaired kidney function are sometimes advised not to eat vegetables, or to soak vegetables in water and boil them to reduce potassium levels by leaching out. ”
"However, using this cooking method can reduce potassium levels, while other important minerals and vitamins may be severely lost," the study states. "In this case, the production of low-potassium vegetables could be of great interest. ”
The study was carried out in a commercial setting – Ortogourmet, a working micro-green farm in southern Italy. Crucially, this supports the feasibility of cultivating custom microgreens on a large scale, while maintaining optimal agronomic performance.
Microgreens are grown in a soilless system, where the soil is replaced with a liquid medium and the plants are fed by a nutrient solution.
Explaining the advantages of soilless cultivation systems, the authors state: "Soilless cultivation is considered an advanced, environmentally friendly agricultural practice that improves the quality of fresh vegetables. "In fact, although soilless systems have been developed primarily to address the challenge of too many soil pathogens, soilless systems are also conducive to optimal control of plant growth, high productivity and efficient use of water and fertilizer. In addition, soilless systems offer the opportunity to precisely and efficiently adjust the nutrient solution. ”
Researchers are now turning their attention to manipulating the biological pathways of plants to produce the desired compounds. "The key idea is to use in-depth knowledge of plant metabolic pathways to identify key points of possible intervention to increase the production of the desired molecule," they stressed. "The optimization of these techniques requires in-depth study of the molecular biology of plants, including the metabolic pathways involved in the synthesis of the target molecule, as well as the continuous improvement of growth conditions. "The combination of advanced scientific knowledge and innovative technologies can open up new prospects for the production of healthier and more nutritious biofortified vegetables. ”
*: Journal of Food and Agricultural Sciences (DOI: 10.)1002/jsfa.13222)
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