Health

Making health-promoting plants

Healthy, healthier, healthiest. This is what plants stand for. Scientists of Plant Research International are continually working on plants to make food and our environment even healthier than these are already.

Plants form the basis of our food chain. Our body cannot do without the fibres, vitamins and other constituents in food from vegetable origin. But people are sometimes getting ill, as result of a poor dietary pattern or because they are allergic or oversensitive to certain substances in food.

We therefore consider it our task to further increase the contribution of plants to our health. We are working on food of vegetable origin with more health-promoting constituents and fewer pathogenic constituents such as allergens. Such food, matching the need of an individual, could help keeping people healthier or even get better.

We are also searching for constituents that could serve as raw material for pharmaceuticals. We are even prompting plants to produce pharmaceuticals; this would make existing pharmaceuticals cheaper or better.

And then there still is the effect of plants as such on health. Such as a buffer of fine dust or on a care farm. We are investigating precisely which type of vegetation is contributing to a better life and which is not.

Our knowledge of plants down to gene level enables Plant Research International to make major progress in the development of such health-promoting plants. Together with scientists working on human health we are succeeding in developing tastier and healthier food in a healthy living environment.

	Search for cause of resistance in Aspergillus fumigatus How can the fungus Aspergillus fumigatus become resistant? The answer to that question is of vital importance to people with weakened immune systems. There may be clues to be found in the agricultural use of fungicides. For this reason, researchers from Plant Research International and the St. Radboud University Medical Centre in Nijmegen are working closely together.
	Bees and bumblebees help to reduce allergies Bumblebees, bees and their product honey can be used to reduce allergies. In sweet pepper greenhouses, bees or bumblebees reduce the amount of pollen which falls from the flowers, leading to fewer allergy problems among staff. Eating honey itself may also help to fight allergies. Researchers at Plant Research International are testing this theory.
	Breeding plants which do not cause allergic reactions  An end to fears of allergic reactions from food or plants – that is the goal of researchers at Plant Research International. They are establishing which proteins in plants cause allergic reactions. The hope is that this knowledge will ultimately lead to non-allergenic varieties.
	Developing plants with a perfect balance of healthy substances Plants contain all kinds of ingredients which can have a beneficial impact on our health. Researchers at Plant Research International are investigating how these substances are created in plants. This knowledge is then used to develop plants with a good balance of substances which are beneficial to health through breeding or genetic modification.
	Making plants with constituents which promote human health Good nutrition can help people stay healthy longer. This requires that the plants, the basis of good nutrition, contain exactly those constituents which promote health. Researchers at Plant Research International are identifying the valuable substances among the thousands which plants contain.
	Get healthy and stay healthy thanks to a green environment ‘Going green’ can have a positive impact on people’s health. But how big is that impact? For example, on the well-being of customers at a care farm? And how much do trees contribute to our health by capturing fine particulates? These are questions which researchers at Plant Research International are seeking answers to.
	What is tasty? Metabolomics provides the answer A single substance in a melon can be the reason why one melon is tastier than another. But try finding that substance. Researchers at Plant Research International can do just that with their ‘metabolomics platform,’ a series of advanced measuring devices. They can use it to improve the quality of products or accelerate the breeding process.