Breeding Plants for Fun and Profit

A recent development that will affect the pathway of a food--from farm to processor to nutrition facts label to a consumer's eyes--involves the typical nutrients in the crops plant breeders and farmers have tapped over the years to feed the bulk of the American public. In selecting crops for pest and disease resistance, speedy seed-to-harvest times, varying climactic tolerance, and other factors, we largely neglected to consider the nutrient content of the foods. After all, a tomato is a tomato, isn't it?

Those book covers can prove quite deceptive.

I touched on this subject a few weeks back (see http://www.foodproductdesign.com/blogs/doug/?m=art&a=65h29548.html). When compared to the crops yielded from most large-scale monoculture production--the bulk and backbone of America's agricultural business--organic crops have typically shown higher nutrient values (see http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/03/25/HOG3BHSDPG1.DTL). Researchers have hypothesized that this happens for a number of reasons, including the fact that conventional crops are sped, by all means necessary, from seed to harvest to make room for the next crop. Shorter cropping times, fertilizer use and other factors can all influence the ability of plants to take up specific nutrients from the soil and fertilizer and synthesize nutrients based on specific nutrient balances in the fruit itself (and the types and levels of nutrients assimilated from the soil, carbohydrates, etc.).

But going organic (or hydroponic; see http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/proceedings1996/V3-624.html) isn't the only way to boost a crop's nutrient content. Genetics contribute a substantial and complicated piece to this puzzle. The trick is to find cultivars that perform to suitable, economically sustainable standards that also deliver high nutrient and phytochemical (antioxidant) content.

Luckily, researchers from Wageningen UR (see http://www.wur.nl/UK/) have found effective, new techniques for plant breeders to select varieties based on their nutrient content --and flavor, of course (see http://www.wur.nl/UK/newsagenda/news/Hereditary_qualities_of_plants_crucial_to_healthy_food.htm; the researchers also recently published their findings in Nature Genetics, see http://www.nature.com/ng/journal/vaop/ncurrent/abs/ng1815.html). Previously, the researchers note, selecting cultivars based on their biochemical composition was considered too labor- and cost-intensive for practical application.

The ability to efficiently and economically cultivate crops for better nutrient and phytochemical content could prove a valuable contribution to forces in the industry who would like to seamlessly boost the nutritional content of the foods and beverages we consume on a daily basis.

And, with the right marketing and labeling, I'm sure there's a fatter bottom line in there somewhere.