Plant Envirogenetics
Plant Envirogenetics is the study of the interaction between genetics and environmental factors in relation to the phenotype of the plant. At Maastricht University we are particularly interested in quality traits, such as taste and nutritional value of vegetables. We investigate the relative contribution of the plant’s genetics, its growth conditions and the postharvest handling methodology.
We work closely with the plant functional genomics and the CEA engineering groups in designing our experiments. We also collaborate with the colleagues in Health and Food Innovation (also present at the Brightlands campus Greenport Venlo) in order to optimize vegetable quality from seed, through cultivation, postharvest handling, food preparation all the way to human consumption.
Controlled Environment Agriculture allow us to tailor the growing conditions to specific genetics, while the increasing knowledge of the genes allow us allele mining for the optimal genetics. These genetic and environmental ‘control levers’ help us to ‘serve’ appealing and nutritious vegetables in order to improve the dietary profile of consumers and thereby maintaining and promoting health.