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Raspberries are good for you!
Summary
Due to unique flavours and proven health promotion properties, raspberry is a high value crop which leads to considerable competition between production areas worldwide. Today, 25% of the world production comes from Europe. The QualiRedFruits project is led by SAC and involves researchers and industry in Scotland, France, Switzerland, Italy, Slovenia and Bulgaria. It aims to strength the European position on the world market and the competitiveness of European SMEs by improving raspberries’ properties thanks to design of new varieties and new cultivation methods more respectful of the environment.
Key Challenges
Raspberry plants are prone to a number of diseases, the most damaging of which is raspberry root rot, which can kill plants, resulting in huge yield losses. Other diseases, such as cane blight and spur blight, can reduce plant productivity, while others, such as grey mould, can reduce fruit quality. Using a combination of mycorrhizal colonisation and the use of resistance elicitors, this project aims to provide effective and environmentally benign disease control, while increasing the antioxidant content of raspberry fruits.
Key Benefits
Raspberry production is highly competitive. It is also continually evolving as a result of consumer interest in the health benefits of antioxidant molecules (AOM) in raspberry fruits, and the increasing public requirement to produce fruit crops using methods which are safer to the environment.
The QualiRedFruits project aims to identify raspberry varieties with higher quality in terms of AOM content and to develop innovative cultural practices with reduced environmental impact. It brings together 7 SMEs and 5 academic partners across Europe with the expertise required to achieve the project objectives. Research activities include screening raspberry varieties for their AOM content and development of new cultural practices involving use of beneficial micro-organisms (biotisation) and of natural elicitors of plant defence reactions in order to increase AOM content in raspberry fruits and to drastically reduce chemical inputs. This will be associated with the development of a quality insurance scheme for raspberry plant production. Molecular markers are being designed for the specific identification of varieties, together with a cryo-preservation protocol for the long term conservation of raspberry germplasm.
“SAC and European researchers and growers are working on methods to protect raspberry crops and improve the health benefits of raspberries”
The ultimate aim of the project is to formulate recommendations for quality production of raspberries by the SMEs. The new technologies developed in this project will be of considerable benefit to raspberry growers and to those involved in the frozen and processed fruit market. The results from QualiRedFruits will therefore be a driving force to provide competitive advantages for raspberry growers and producers on the European and International market.
Our Partners
SAC’s research is funded by the EU (FP7), and involves collaboration between researchers and growers in Scotland, France, Switzerland, Italy, Slovenia and Bulgaria.