Abstract
The National Centre forBiodiversity and GeneConservationfunctionsas a centralgene bank, which is alsothelargestin Hungary. The vastamount of gene bank itemsheld here is remarkableona European scale. Ourinstitutionwouldliketotake a newpathwiththehelp of theThematic Excellence Program. So far, our main activity has beenthecollection and professionalreservation of genesourcesdisplacedfrompubliccultivation. Ourcollection of vegetablecropsincludestens of thousands of items. Ourherb and spicerepositoryareinthecount of couple of thousands. Atourcentral site in Tápiószele, wemaintaintwoorchardsforlandracesnativetotheCarpathianBasin. The aim of our project is topromotethere-use of thesegenesources, alsotoputthem back intopubliccultivationbyfindingnewfunctionsforthem. Wehavepre-mappedthespecialneeds of theprocessingindustryappliedforfruits, vegetables, and herbs. Wehaveselected a research line forthefoodindustry and a cosmeticsindustry, whichwillculminateinthedevelopment of specificrecipes: newfruit and vegetablesmoothies, purees, cocktails, juices, spreads, and creating a prototype of newnaturalcosmeticproductslikesoaps, lipcare and creams, providedbyourplantresources. Achievingthesegoalsrequires a verythoroughknowledge and selection of gene bank items. The characterization of theplantswilltakeplaceatthreelevels: basedontheplace of production, genetics and analytics. Testswill be performedon a largenumber of samples. Giventheresults, theitemsthatproveto be the most suitableforindustrialusearesubjecttoorganolepticevaluation, and webegintoexaminethembydevelopingexperimentalrecipes. Wepropagatetheseeds of thebestgenotypes and producebudwoodstopropagatetheselectedfruittrees. Thus, atthe end of the project,additionalplantmaterialforfurtherlargerscaletrialproductionwill be available. Webelievethatifourcurrent project proposal is implemented, wecancontributetotheimprovement of thebiodiversity of theCarpathianBasinculturalflora, thediversity of agriculture, and ultimatelyto a healthierenvironment and nutrition. Weexpectthatourresearchwillgeneratefurther R&D collaborations.
Hungary