NEWS | Chic >
Implementation of New Plant Breeding Techniques (NPBTs) for dietary inulin
Inulin is a dietary fiber with health-promoting characteristics mainly targeted on gut health. Inulin is extracted from root chicory and used in many food products.
The yield and the length of the inulin molecule determines the value and health-beneficial character of this compound. Using NPBT we want to increase both the yield and the length of inulin. The natural production of terpenes in chicory makes the inulin extraction method less efficient and more costly. The other goal of WP2 is to reduce the production of natural chicory terpenes.
The work done during the first two years of the project CHIC shows that we could generate mutant chicory plants in which the genes encoding the inulin break-down enzymes are blocked using genome editing techniques thanks to the small alteration the CRISPR tools made in the plant DNA. All mutated plants have been analyzed in great detail on DNA level using various methods.
More news about this project:
CHIC project at European Researchers’ Night in Madrid (Spain)
The European Researchers’ Night is a Marie Sklodowska Curie (MSCA) action, under the EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation Horizon 2020. It consists of a pan-European event taking place on the last Friday night of September.
What is CRISPR?
CRISPR stands for Clustered Regularly Interspaces Short Palindrome Repeats. The gene editing tool makes it easier for scientists to edit DNA strands that are cancerous or malignant.
FDA confirms dietary fiber status of inulin
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recognizes inulin-type fructans derived from chicory root as dietary fiber for the new nutrition facts label.