FEED - From Edible sprouts to hEalthy fooD

Health and sustainability are increasingly central to the agri-food sector, as governments and consumers seek effective strategies to prevent chronic diseases through healthier lifestyles. In this context, the FEED project promotes the Mediterranean diet by fostering a new generation of functional foods enriched with bioactive compounds.

The project focuses on fresh sprouts from different botanical origins, including traditional, local, and wild edible species, which represent an improved nutritional source compared to seeds due to the germination process, enhancing beneficial bioactive compounds while reducing antinutrients. FEED aims to develop innovative food ingredients and functional foods that meet consumer demand for health benefits while ensuring environmentally friendly production processes. Given the high perishability of fresh sprouts, the project also develops bio-based and biodegradable active packaging solutions to improve food safety and extend shelf life. Through a multidisciplinary approach, FEED combines the rediscovery of culturally relevant plant species with advanced technologies (in vitro and in vivo models), alongside a deep characterization of sprouts’ bioactive, antioxidant, immunomodulatory, and prebiotic properties.

FEED is a 36-month project funded by the European Union under the PRIMA programme, supporting sustainable resource use, economic growth, and stability in the Mediterranean region.

FilAgro – Innovative and sustainable strategies for the agri-food chain

The FILAGRO project aims to provide solutions to several issues that are emerging in the field of modern agriculture. They concern: production sustainability, biodiversity and environment preservation; improvement in food quality, safety and healthy and nutritional aspects; technology development in favor of industry; new knowledge dissemination. These issues are highlighted as of high importance in the EXPO 2015 and Horizon 2020 programs as well as in the 2013-2015 plan of the Agriculture Directorate of the Lombardy Region.

VELICA - From ancient material crops and products for the future

The project aims to study the possible re-introduction of traditional crops on the Lombardia territory such as hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) and flax (Linum usitatissimum L.), making their cultivation profitable again through the use of all the bioproducts obtainable from the various parts of the plant, eg: oil extracted from seeds, fiber, proteins, metabolites. In addition, the project also plans to enhance all the residues of the various transformations of hemp and flax, creating a range of bioproducts of considerable interests.

InFlaMe - Improvement of secondary metabolites production for human health by flax cell in vitro technology

The aim of the InFlaMe project is to optimize the production of secondary metabolites of pharmacological/nutraceutical interest, the lignans which are produced at low concentration by flax plants as defense compounds against herbivores and microrganisms. To this purpose a biotechnological approach will be used starting from the production of different plant tissue cultures obtained from several diverse flax species. The obtained cultures will be induced to an increased production of lignans through the use of specific elicitors and through metabolic engineering.

In the long term this technology will provide a large scale production of high added value compounds currently limited by the low potential of producer species.

MITICAL - Improvement of the cultivation and production of industrial hemp in Lombardy through innovative cultivation techniques

The MITICAL project aims to deepen knowlege on industrial hemp culture, focusing on the final use of two main products: seeds and flowers. The project will be based on the following activities:

• analysis of 4 hemp varieties, two monoecius and two dioecious, cultivated in two different pedoclimaticzones in Lombardy region,
• evaluation of the agronomic performances after different growing condition: control, biostimulant treatment, elicitor treatment,
• seeds:evaluation of nutritional quality by measuring protein and oil content, fatty acid profile and antinutritional compound content,
• flowers: evaluation of secondary metabolites content (CBD, THC,) and other polyphenols,
• study of transcriptome: correlation analysis between gene expression and phenotype/metabolite, identification of allelic polymorphism (SNP) and coexpression network,
• metagenomic analysis of soil: characterization of fungi, bacteria, metazoa, before and after hemp cultivation.

The project will be hold with the collaboration of agrofarms belonging to the two lombard agriculture districts and the results obtained on seeds will be viable for feed and food industries whereas those on flowers for pharma and cosmetic sector.

PRIN 2022 ELITECH - Cannabis sativa (L.) as a bio-factory for secondary metabolites through innovative elicitation techniques

Hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) is a crop of major industrial, food, and medical interest due to its rich content of bioactive secondary metabolites, such as cannabinoids, terpenes, and phenolic compounds.

The project aims to increase the content and quality of these compounds through innovative elicitation strategies, based on the use of molecules capable of triggering plant defence responses that lead to the synthesis of bioactive compounds. In particular, elicitors of plant, bacterial, and synthetic origin will be tested during female flower development, including specific synthetic derivatives of coronalon.

The project also involves the use of chitosan nanoparticles as advanced elicitor delivery systems. In parallel, in vitro cultures of adventitious roots and hairy roots will be developed and used to test the new elicitors. Inflorescences and in vitro tissues will be characterized at biochemical, metabolic, and transcriptomic levels to elucidate the mechanisms underlying the increase in secondary metabolites. The results will contribute to the development of sustainable strategies to enhance the functional value of hemp and will pave the way for future applications of genome editing technologies.

RICE CONNECTIONS - Connecting biologies on rice disease resistance, drought tolerance and flowering time

The overall objective of the “Rice connections” project is to better elucidate the connections between disease resistance, drought tolerance and flowering time and to study how does a first biological stimulus impact on a second subsequent biological stimulus.

The relationships between the three targeted biological pathways are explored using different approaches: agronomy, genetics, genomics, cell biology and yeast-two-hybrid technique.

The project will involve:

– phenotyping for disease resistance, drought tolerance and flowering time of several rice lines, including transgenic lines for some key genes

– identifying regulation nodes, i.e. genes which expression is synergistically regulated by two biological pathways, through gene expression studies (RNA-Seq analysis and qRT-PCR)

– establishing connection nodes between the targeted biological pathways, as identified by yeast-two-hybrid approach

The main output of the project will be the identification of connection hubs between the targeted biological pathways, which will represent the next generation of genes to be studied and used in future breeding programs.

RISINNOVA - Integrated genetic and genomic approaches for new Italian rice breeding strategies

The overall objective of the “RISINNOVA” project is to provide the Italian rice industry with genetic and genomic tools for the development of more competitive rice varieties, suitable for both domestic and international markets.

The project is structured in five research Workpackages (WP):

WP1. Genetic and genomic approaches to improve protection against the main rice diseases

WP2. Genetic and genomics strategies for protection of rice from major abiotic stresses (water

shortage, salt stress, thermal stress)

WP3. Genetic and functional diversity of rice-associated microbial communities

WP4. Genomic analysis systems applied to biodiversity

WP5. Dissemination, training and technology transfer

In the framework of WP2, the IBBA activity aims to identify genes that may represent important players in the tolerant response to osmotic stress. This is achieved through: i) the physiological evaluation of several japonica cultivars for their response to osmotic stress ii) the selection of two cultivars with a contrasting phenotype (sensitive vs tolerant) iii) an RNA-Seq analysis of the transcriptomic changes occurring in leaves and roots of these two cultivars in response to osmotic stress.

sPATIALS3 - Improvement of agrifood productions and innovative technologies for a safer and more secure and sustainable nutrition

sPATIALS3 is a technological and research hub involving 12 CNR Institutes belonging to 4 different Departments and 4 companies. Main objectives will be: obtainment of innovative food products improved for their nutritional and functional properties; provision and implementation of precision technologies to guarantee products quality, safety and traceability; development of innovative and eco-sustainable smart– and active-packaging to minimize and reuse wastes, where possible, and to increase food preservability; provision to consumers and producers of tools for results exploitation.

PNRR AGRITECH (SPOKE 9) - New technologies and methodologies for traceability, quality, safety, measurement, and certification to enhance and protect typicality in agri-food supply chains

Spoke 9 aims to conceive, design, test, and disseminate innovative digital solutions to understand the origin, authenticity, and guarantee the safety of agricultural products, with the aim of enhancing and protecting the unique characteristics of agri-food supply chains. Within Spoke 9, IBBA is involved in Task 9.11 (Chemical, Physical, Biological, Sensory, and Genetic methods and protocols for the measurement of product quality and traceability of food matrices and for soil characterization) and 9.1.5 (Modeling sustainability and quality of farm processes and food using on-farm and lab measurements).

In Task 9.1.1, IBBA aims to validate a genetic profiling method based on intron length polymorphisms of the β-tubulin (TBP) gene family for the authentication of olive and cereal cultivars supplied by partners.

In task 9.1.5, an in vivo study on cattle allows us to evaluate the effect of feed supplemented with natural substances on antibiotic resistance and the quality of milk produced, determining chemical and biofunctional parameters. Thanks to the collaboration with ISTI, the use of visible and hyperspectral imaging, combined with machine learning, is being investigated as a rapid, non-destructive, and cost-effective alternative to traditional laboratory chemical analyses for assessing milk quality.

NUTRAGE - Nutrition, Diet & Active Aging

With a multidisciplinary approach, Nutrage aims to promote solutions and strategies for active and healthy aging, which have significant implications for the future, well-being, and social cohesion of the country. Evidence suggests that nutrition plays a key role in promoting the prevention and delaying the onset of major aging-related diseases. Therefore, the project intends to develop new foods with high nutritional value, new dietary regimens, and specific personalized nutrition programs, and to promote new pathways to support the health, well-being, and safety of the most vulnerable populations. The specific objectives of the project are:

• Development of agri-food (bio)technologies
• Development of new foods with high health value
• Green technologies for the extraction and stabilization of biocompounds
• Identification of early biomarkers
• Innovative strategy for active and healthy aging
• Integrated analysis of the physiopathological bases of aging
• Food culture and education