Projects

The durum wheat chain is particularly relevant in the central and southern Italy, especially in the Marche and Puglia regions. The main purpose of INNOGRANO concerns the acquisition of experimental results useful for the genetic improvement of wheat due to resistance to fusariosis, rust, nitrogen deficiency, nutritional characteristics, food safety and drought, as well as innovative milling techniques able to preserve at most the nutritional and health characteristics of the semolina.
The achievement of these objectives will lead to an improvement in the overall sustainability of wheat cultivation through less use of chemicals and water resources, associated with greater food security. To pursue the objectives indicated through the acquisition of genetic-molecular and phenotypic data, we will identify genome loci characterized by the presence of genes for tolerance to fusariosis and rust, to water scarcity, able to improve the efficiency of use of nitrogen and introduce important nutraceutical characteristics. The information acquired will be used for the establishment and supply of new varieties and protocols for their cultivation and transformation with superior health and technological characteristics.

The productive sustainability of wheat is increasingly dependent on the ability of the new varieties to resist abiotic and biotic stresses. Among the abiotic stresses, droughts and thermal stresses play a predominant role in light of recent climate changes and the absence of irrigation. Among the biotic stresses, on the other hand, wheat is particularly exposed to brown rust and fusariosis and the consequent mycotoxin contamination. An additional problem is derived from the need to optimize the application of nitrogen, maintaining a balance between too little nitrogen = low protein content and too much nitrogen = leaching into the soil and lodging of the crop. This is also due to the fact that the irrigation of wheat in southern Italy is based almost exclusively on meteoric water.

The sustainability of durum wheat cultivation in southern Italy requires, on the one hand, the development of productive varieties, improved by water-use efficiency (WUE) and nitrogen (nitrogen-use efficiency: NUE), resistance to major diseases such as brown rust and fusariosis, and with a high protein content. On the other hand, the development of techniques for monitoring the fungal load, water potential and nitrogen content in the soil and in growing biomass, allowing to optimize pesticide, fertilization and rescue irrigation interventions. The third innovation introduced by INNOGRANO will concern the development of varieties with improved content of the main hydro- and liposoluble vitamins and of milling techniques that optimize their preservation in the semolina. The innovative varieties and techniques of monitoring, precision farming and milling developed by INNOGRANO will constitute a “package” that will allow southern Italian farmers to compete effectively with the best foreign grains, preserving the Italian character of the durum wheat-pasta chain.

The NUTRITEC project aims to create an integrated set of products and processes for the durum wheat supply chain, including:
a) the selection of genotypes of durum wheat with a high content of vitamins, carotenoids, anthocyanins, fibers, proteins and with a high gluten index;
b) the development of precision farming techniques that allow the optimization of inputs and production stabilization;
c) the development of new crops such as lupine with no bitter factors and also suitable for medium alkaline soils, to be put into rotation for the benefit of cultivation technique and economic return;
d) new semolina for the production of pasta and bakery products with high nutraceutical value.
The combination of these genotypes, protocols and processes will guarantee the producers of southern Italy greater stability in production and their quality, reducing the great variability of the quality and prices of Italian wheat, and creating a certified chain “Made in Italy” .

The durum wheat chain is particularly relevant as well as strategic in central and southern Italy, especially in the Marche and Puglia regions. The main purpose of NUTRITEC concerns the acquisition of experimental results useful for the genetic improvement of wheat due to its nutritional characteristics, food safety and agronomic and economic sustainability through the introduction of a new species capable of facilitating the rotation and providing at the same time an important nutraceutical contribution in the constitution of new semolina suitable for the production of pasta and bakery products with an added health value. The achievement of these objectives will lead to an improvement in the overall sustainability of wheat cultivation through less use of chemicals, a higher level of food security and the creation of new highly functional and healthy foods. To pursue the objectives indicated through the acquisition of genetic-molecular and phenotypic data, we will identify genome loci characterized by the presence of genes to introduce important nutraceutical characteristics. The information acquired will be used for the establishment and supply of new varieties – and new protocols for their cultivation and transformation – with clearly superior health and technological characteristics.

The productive sustainability of wheat increasingly depends on the genetic capacity adaptive to the cultivation environment and the increasingly efficient agronomic techniques, therefore it is essential to select a genotype that is highly adaptable to the reference environment and the possibility of applying suitable rotations and agronomic plans. targeted; moreover the commercial outlet and the evaluation in terms of price is a further fundamental element to reach such sustainability. The possibility of having innovative processed products with high added value in the field of health and the prevention of some chronic degenerative diseases represents an excellent outlet for the economic plant of durum wheat production. Among the possible innovations at the nutraceutical level, certainly an enrichment in the concentrations of the share of carotenoids (lutein and b-carotene) are a very important factor to consider from a health point of view, together with the presence of anthocyanins and a value of soluble fibers that represent a further plus of the product. If then to the semolina obtained in this way, the possibility of integrating proteins and other functional elements deriving from a legume is added (in our case an extremely innovative lupine due to the absence of bitter principles), which is also suitable for improving the cultivation technique and having itself a significant economic margin, the entire production plant becomes extremely efficient. An additional problem stemmed from the need to optimize the application of nitrogen. By using a precession with a legume, a portion of nitrogen to be applied to the soil would be spared. In fact, the project foresees the monitoring and testing of the development of the culture through evaluation with thermal cameras applied on drone for monitoring the development of the crop, and assessing the advantage of rotation through lupine.

The sustainability of durum wheat cultivation in southern Italy requires, on the one hand, the development of productive varieties, improved in terms of efficiency of utilization of nitrogen resources, resistance to the main pathologies, a good protein content, together with an enrichment of carotenoids, of anthocyanins and fibers in general. On the other hand, the production of processed products, such as pasta and bakery products with a high nutraceutical value, constitute a complete package, developed by NUTRITEC, which will enable southern Italian farmers to compete effectively, in terms of income, with other crops more remunerative, which in these areas, due to the pedoclimatic conditions would not have the same remunerative efficiency. The great advantage will also be the development of new products with high nutritional value, which will have a strong impact on public health.

The achievement of phenotypically stable male sterile lines, both of durum and soft wheat, and the respective maintenance and plant lines with the fertility catering capacity, are the fundamental points of this project.

Hand in hand, a wide genetic variability found in different parts of the world was evaluated in order to maximize the heterotic effect at the level of the single genomic locus for obtaining a high heterotic effect. At the time, male-sterile lines and restorative lines have developed. The pool of genotypes with high genetic variability has been used to introduce variability in these lines. The heterotic effect obtained was of an excellent level (see figure).

The cytoplasmic hypothesis is currently underway as the origin of the male sterility system through phenotypic and molecular approach: cytoplasmic DNA sequencing and identification of involved loci associated with the sterile male phenotype. Together with the identification of loci in nuclear DNA capable of restoring fertility.

The express prohibition of using animal meal in animal feed and the growing difficulty in finding on the international soy GMO-free market require a revision of the feed formulations in respect of animal welfare and consumer protection. In essence, it is necessary to reformulate the rations trying to replace, at least in part, soy with traditional grain legumes like field beans, produced in the national territory with environmentally friendly methods and free from genetically modified organisms.

The aim is to evaluate the influence of alternative protein sources on soya on the qualitative and dietary characteristics of livestock production (milk, meat, etc.). To this end, the knowledge concerning the nutritional needs of animal species will be deepened, in relation to alternative protein sources, for the formulation of balanced diets. The research consists in creating new genotypes of field beans with no tannins, together with resistance to Orobanche.

The possibility of replacing soy proteins with alternative sources is well documented for monogastrics and poultry, while work on ruminants or dairy cows is scarce. For the use of this species in place of soy, it is necessary that there are no tannins in the field beans and the ability of this species to be competitive in terms of production and resistance to the various pathogens and in particular, for some areas to Orobanche attacks. At the same time, the available in vivo tests have in no case been set by completely replacing the soybean meal with other protein crops. For this reason the comparison of rations to complete substitution of soy proteins with “raw” broad bean, with similar rations but with the same native protein sources are of extreme interest for the industry and for the breeders.

The express prohibition of using animal meal in animal feed and the growing difficulty in finding on the international soy GMO-free market require a revision of the feed formulations in respect of animal welfare and consumer protection. In essence, it is necessary to reformulate the rations trying to replace, at least in part, the soya with traditional grain legumes like lupine, produced in the national territory with environmentally friendly methods and free from genetically modified organisms.

The aim is to evaluate the influence of alternative protein sources on soya on the qualitative and dietary characteristics of livestock production (milk, meat, etc.). To this end, the knowledge concerning the nutritional needs of animal species will be deepened, in relation to alternative protein sources, for the formulation of balanced diets. The research consists in the creation of new lupine genotypes with the absence of bitter principles, together with their adaptability to alkaline soils due to calcium carbonate (this would open up many areas to the cultivation of an excellent and rotating species).

The possibility of replacing soy proteins with alternative sources is well documented for monogastrics and poultry, while work on ruminants or dairy cows is scarce. For the use of this species in place of soy, it is necessary that there are no bitter principles in the lupine; components that give toxic effects mainly in monogastrics. At the same time, the available in vivo tests have in no case been set by completely replacing the soybean meal with other protein crops. For this reason the comparison of rations to complete substitution of soy proteins with “raw” lupine, with similar rations but with the same native protein sources are of extreme interest for the industry and for the breeders.

The project concerns the development of new vitreous corn hybrids with high digestibility of starch and adaptation to Mediterranean environments. The scarce availability of breeding works in Italy, for this type of material, has meant that the few hybrids available are of origin foreign and with little evaluation in our areas, making sure that the level of improvement to specific conditions is low and often we are satisfied with what is on the market and proposed only by marketing activities, often distant from the scientific evaluation.

The aim of the project is to obtain new hybrids from Italian populations, adapted to different areas after years of cultivation by local farmers. This will allow to have a good genetic basis already subjected to multi-year selective pressure in the various territories of origin, and therefore a remarkable adaptation to the different pedo-climatic conditions. The diversification of the areas of origin allowed us to evaluate, through molecular analyzes, the good genetic variability present in these materials. As many as 200 populations were developed, kept in Half-sib selection; these populations are in continuous selection to extrapolate lines to be sent in purity for future test crosses.

Each purity line is subject to starch analysis, except for its adaptive phenotypic characteristics and resistance to biotic and abiotic adversities. The best lines are tested for their general and specific combinatorial capacity, in order to obtain superior hybrids with particularly digestible and highly sought-after starches both for human and zootechnical nutrition.
Today more than 250 pure lines are being evaluated and as many as 200 new potential commercial hybrids.