ANAFI - Analysis of genetic variability and haplotype at protein milks loci aimed at protecting biodiversity and producing diversified milks

The objective of this project was to analyse how the frequencies of the main casein variants and haplotypes changed in the Italian Holstein breed, and the possible effects on milk technological properties (milks more suitable for dairy processing, with potential greater digestibility). The results obtained by the genotyping (Illumina beadchip) of all the historical data available (over 220,000 Italian Holstein Friesian individuals and over 600 Italian Jersey individuals) were analysed in order to verify how the allele frequencies to the casein genes have been changing in recent years. The results indicate that the increase of the B allele, favourable for cheese-making, and the decrease of the unfavourable E allele at the k-casein are compensating the increase of the A 2 allele at the β-casein, generally maintaining a good proportion of haplotypes associated with good cheese-making properties.

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.

RECUPEVO - RECUperation and enhancement of the Lombard ecotype PEperone di VOghera

The RECUPEVO project aims to contribute to the recovery of an ancient variety of sweet pepper typical of the Lombardy region of Italy, the “Peperone di Voghera“. The activities are aimed at stabilizing and standardizing the valuable qualitative attributes of this variety, enhancing its agronomic and organoleptic characteristics, as well as helping its registration in the Conservation Variety Register or Biodiversity Registry, to protect the brand and name “Peperone di Voghera”. This will promote its inclusion in the List of Traditional Agri-food Products of the Lombardy Region

A recent problem with this variety has been the appearance of spicy fruits which are indistinguishable from the typically sweet ones. To address this within the RECUPEVO project, IBBA-CNR studies allelic variants in candidate regions for the production of capsaicinoids, the compounds responsible for the level of spiciness of the berry, through amplification of genomic regions of interest from spicy and sweet individuals, and subsequent amplicon sequencing with Illumina technology. Genotypic differences may reveal the cause of the activation of the biosynthetic pathway of capsaicin and allow the development of molecular markers for the selection of non-spicy individuals.