HealthyMinorCereals. 1. Publishable summary

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Jesse Melton
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1 1. Publishable summary HealthyMinorCereals Full title: An integrated approach to diversify the genetic base, improve stress resistance, agronomic management and nutritional/processing quality of minor cereal crops for human nutrition in Europe Summary description of project context and objectives The productivity of European and global agriculture has been vastly improved through focussing on a relatively small number of crop species. Cereals grown in Europe such as common wheat and barley have been mainly bred for high yields, and are dependent on large inputs of artificial fertilizers, pesticides and energy. Other cereal species, including rye, oat, spelt, einkorn and emmer were important in the early development of agriculture. Many of them were widely grown in Europe prior to the Second World War. However, they are no longer widely grown in Europe and are now classified as minor cereals due to small areas of cultivation. Many minor cereal species retain characteristics that have been lost, to a large extent in modern, major cereals. They often have higher resistance to crop diseases and are less dependent on fertilizer and pesticide inputs. There is a renewed interest in these minor crop species to increase the diversity, sustainability and resilience of cereal production. They are also increasingly popular as nutritious alternatives to major cereals. However, minor cereals have not received the same attention as the major cereals in modern agricultural and food research. There are typically only a few varieties of each species available for cultivation in each country and the best farming conditions are not always properly investigated. Many historic minor cereal varieties, conserved in seedbanks, have hardly been studied. These could provide useful genetic material for breeding improved minor cereal crop varieties. HealthyMinorCereals is an international research project, funded by the EU 7th Framework Programme, aiming to enhance the cultivation and consumption of minor cereals in Europe through the application of modern research methods. The project, coordinated by the Czech Crop Research Institute (CRI) involves 16 partners: universities, agricultural research institutes and SMEs involved in crop breeding, farming and food production, located in 10 countries (Austria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Poland, Switzerland, Turkey, and the UK). The HealthyMinorCereals partners are working together for five years towards the following objectives: Analyse the genetic and physical characteristics of varieties of each minor cereal species and their wild relatives that have been conserved in European genebanks Identify minor cereal varieties with promising genetic characteristics for yield, resistance to important fungal diseases, more efficient use of fertilizers, nutritional quality, suitability for food processing and other beneficial traits Apply new breeding strategies to generate new improved minor cereal varieties 8

2 Optimise cultivation conditions of minor cereal varieties in four European countries with different climates and soils, with a focus on organic fertilisation and advanced agronomic management tools Investigate the genetic diversity of minor cereals grain for micronutrient and antioxidant content, and for any potential harmful/anti-nutritive components, and analyse possible beneficial effects of minor cereal grains on human health through cell biological studies on human cell cultures Develop know-how in milling, baking, extrusion and other food preparation methods suitable for minor cereals for improving quality, consumer acceptance, processing capability and stability Understand how new products based on minor cereals can be best introduced to the market (with a programme of case studies), taking into account regional differences within Europe Demonstrate project results through farmer-participatory field trials and production and quality evaluation of new food products using minor cereals Description of work performed and main results Genetic characterisation of minor cereals Genetic characterisation was previously completed for oat, rye and spelt genotypes, determining some relationships between country of origin and genetic markers. In this past year, a deeper analysis has been performed on 184 spelt genotypes, with their DNA analysed by a new 15K wheat array to identify 7,299 genetic markers ( SNPs ). These markers can now be used in an association analysis with data obtained on the performance of the spelt genotypes in field trials, and their other quality traits measured in HealthyMinorCereals. Further, a selection of 96 of these markers was used for a further analysis of genetic structure in this set of spelt lines. Other work has focused on wild wheat relatives, with their chloroplast microsatellites analysed for inter- and intra-specific diversity. Chloroplast markers are commonly used for species comparisons as they evolve slower and are more conserved. Interesting results show some clustering of some species as well as a possible misclassification of the respective species. Work will continue in the final year of the project with gene sequencing and SNP based QTL analysis to analyse disease resistance genes in selected minor cereals genotypes. Phenotypic characterisation of minor cereals in field trials Three seasons of phenotyping data of minor cereals genotypes have been obtained to date by partners BOKU, ETKI, Selgen and GZPK, focusing in the last two seasons on 80 spelt, 112 oat and 100 rye genotypes, and with CRI evaluating 344 wild wheat relatives from their own collection. The harvests of spelt, rye and oat completed in summer 2017 are now being analysed, and when complete, will be included in our multivariate statistical analysis of data from multiple seasons and the four trial sites. Due to crop losses experienced at some sites as a result of adverse weather, 9

field trials are continuing in 2017-18 to obtain as much data as possible.

3 field trials are continuing in to obtain as much data as possible. The first publications of Figure 1 Various spelt crosses obtained in HealthyMinorCereals this data are expected in mid-late The four partners have also been developing new crossbred varieties of spelt, rye and oat, crossing between genotypes studied in HealthyMinorCereals and various breeding lines, and aiming to improve their cultivation performance. F 1 and F 2 generations have so far been obtained and over 400 crosses are currently being evaluated by partners. Resistance to diseases and drought Resistance to diseases in minor cereals has been studied in field trials in the Czech Republic, Switzerland, Austria and Estonia, employing either natural or artificial infections. These included rusts in spelt and oats, common bunt in spelt, Fusarium head blight in spelt, and Microdochium nivale in rye. Of the 80 spelt genotypes studied in HealthyMinorCereals, several show a higher level of resistance to yellow rust, but with only one a few showing a high resistance to common bunt, stem rust or leaf rust. One genotype is notable for being highly resistant to several crop diseases. For oat, several genotypes are identified with higher resistance to stem rust or crown rust. The Fusarium trials in spelt, using artificial infection and analysis of fungal toxin DON, show relatively large differences in susceptibility among the 80 spelt genotypes. Drought resistance trials by our partner Geokomi in Crete with four spelt varieties have demonstrated the value of investing in supplementary irrigation, and significant differences in yield due to the type of fertilizer used, especially with low natural rainfall. Effect of agronomic management practices on the performance of minor cereals Field trials to evaluate the effects of agronomic practices on the performance of four varieties each of spelt, rye and oat have been carried out in the UK (spelt and rye), Czech Republic (spelt and oat) and Estonia (rye and oat). Despite problems at some sites with weather and pests, data from two seasons of trials is providing some interesting conclusions. There are some clear variety differences in yield, probably due to differences in resistance to the yellow rust epidemic currently affecting almost all European countries. The yield obtained with biogas digestate is looking comparable to that from conventional fertilizer, especially in the UK trials. In this final stage of the project, farmerparticipatory trials have been organised with the most promising agronomic management practices investigated further in commercial fields rather than agricultural stations. 10

Figure 2 Stolzenberger Bakery showcasing new minor cereals products Improved food processing of minor cereal grains In the past year, ILU has conducted analysis of grain samples from

Overall, it is concluded that if a variety has a good kernel quality as a result of its genetics, the benefit of fertilisation on quality parameters is only slight, while in other varieties a higher

4 Figure 2 Stolzenberger Bakery showcasing new minor cereals products Improved food processing of minor cereal grains In the past year, ILU has conducted analysis of grain samples from HealthyMinorCereals field trials to determine influences of variety, fertilizer type and location on baking qualities. Overall, it is concluded that if a variety has a good kernel quality as a result of its genetics, the benefit of fertilisation on quality parameters is only slight, while in other varieties a higher fertilizer application can improve processing ability. ILU and our industry partners have also worked on optimising milling, extrusion and baking processes for minor cereals, and analysing how their nutritional qualities, for example levels of antioxidants or β-glucans, are affected by these production processes. Work has been done by these partners in a more industrial context and scale, considering protocols related to food safety and quality, and improved milling, baking and extrusion processes for bakery and cereal production. Nutritional analysis At Sabanci University, a comprehensive analysis of the nutritional diversity of 54 rye, 200 oat, 300 spelt and 64 wild wheat genotypes is almost complete. A large amount of data has been obtained on seed mineral nutrients, antioxidants, total phenols, dietary fibers, beta-glucan, and other important compounds, compared also the respective nutrient content in 12 modern wheat cultivars. In addition, seed extracts from 40 genotypes with contrasting higher and lower nutrient content were subjected to cell biological tests by using human cell cultures. In these tests, the effects of seed extracts were analyzed for their impact on cellular levels of reactive oxygen species, mitochondrial health, DNA damage and cell survival. Results clearly showed that, with a few exceptions, minor cereal species had a higher antioxidative activity in human cell cultures than the modern wheat cultivars. Publications are being readied finalized for submission in Market potential of minor cereals Case studies of minor cereals market development in the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary and Switzerland have now been completed and discussed within the HealthyMinorCereals consortium. The results are downloadable from our website and are now being disseminated with presentations at several conferences. Partner FiBL has been able to identify some important common factors behind the success of new products based on minor cereals, including an active market Figure 3 Open day organised by CRI organisation and planning, a well-developed network of farmers and food manufacturers and infrastructure adapted to the different volumes and processing of HMC. 11

5 HealthyMinorCereals publicity and dissemination Project activities and results are published at the project website, especially our regular newsletter. CRI are organising the production of a film about minor cereals and the HealthyMinorCereals project, to be completed in The first results have been presented at conferences and publication in scientific journals has started. Also 36 field days and presentations at exhibitions were organised for farmers, crop breeders and the food industry, and 6 popular articles and 4 videos about the project were published. Expected final results and impacts Our results at the end of the project will provide a comprehensive description of the minor cereals available in European seed banks, identifying genotypes with interesting nutritional value, yield characteristics and disease and drought resistance. It will define how best to adapt food production methods for minor cereals, and give us a better understanding of how to improve the market potential. We expect HealthyMinorCereals to have a major impact on the cultivation and consumption of minor cereals in Europe. In this way, the project aims to respond to global environmental change, as well as consumers increasing demands for healthy, nutritious, innovative and sustainably produced food. For further information and access to all project documentation and reports, please visit or contact: Dr. Dagmar Janovská, Project coordinator, Crop Research Institute, Drnovská 507, Praha 6, Czech Republic, tel , janovska@vurv.cz Martina Eiseltová, Project dissemination manager, Crop Research Institute, Drnovská 507, Praha 6, Czech Republic, tel , eiseltova@vurv.cz Disclaimer: The contents of this text are the sole responsibility of the authors, and they do not represent necessarily the views of the European Commission. Whilst all reasonable effort is made to ensure the accuracy of information contained in this newsletter, it is provided without a warranty and we accept no responsibility for any use that may be made of the information. 12

NEWSLETTER No 2, February 2015

NEWSLETTER No 2, February 2015 NEWSLETTER No 2, Dear Readers, The HealthyMinorCereals project has successfully continued over the next six month following the first issue of the Newsletter. In November 2014, our consortium held its