Mastodawn

Matt Willemsen Apr 21, 2024

Five things our research uncovered when we recreated 16th century beer (and barrels)
https://phys.org/news/2024-04-uncovered-recreated-16th-century-beer.html #beer #microbiology #Brewing Science #archaeology #history #landraces

Five things our research uncovered when we recreated 16th century beer (and barrels)

It's true that our 16th-century ancestors drank much more than Irish people do today. But why they did so and what their beer was like are questions shrouded in myth. The authors were part of a team who set out to find some answers.

Phys.org

Alexander J. Stein Oct 21, 2023

Sorghum #landraces can be used in #plantbreeding as a potential, low-cost & eco-friendly approach in #biofortification to improve productivity and #nutrition in semi-arid tropics: https://doi.org/10.3389/fnut.2023.1228422 #sorghum #iron #zinc #protein #India

Exploiting Indian landraces to develop biofortified grain sorghum with high protein and minerals

Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) is the staple cereal and is the primary source of protein for millions of people in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. Sorghum grain value has been increasing in tropical countries including India owing to its gluten-free nature, anti-oxidant properties and low glycemic index. However, the nutrient composition of modern cultivars is declining thus necessitating genetic biofortification of sorghum to combat malnutrition and improve nutritional balance in the human diet. Keeping this in view, efforts were made to utilize valuable alleles, associated with nutrient composition, that might have been left behind in the varietal development in sorghum. The study aimed to determine the genetic improvement for nine nutritional and quality parameters (crude protein, in vitro protein digestibility (IVPD), total iron (Fe), total zinc (Zn), bioavailable Fe (%), bioavailable Zn (%), total phenolics, tannins and antioxidant activity) in the grains of 19 sorghum genotypes (high yield, drought and grain mold tolerant) developed from 11 superior India’s landraces. After selection and advancement made from 2017 to 2022 through single seed descent method, the improvement in the nine nutritional and quality parameters was assessed. Significant variation was observed for all the nine parameters among the landraces and the genotypes. Sorghum genotypes PYPS 2 and PYPS 13 recorded the highest crude protein (13.21 and 12.80% respectively) and IVPD (18.68 and 19.56% res...

Frontiers

Earthworm 🐌Sep 7, 2023

Unpopular opinion:
Old local varieties have little future. 😬 Maybe by moving them all a couple of hundred km north, but our traditional landraces weren't made for this.

Ok, maybe in *some* cases, the innate robustness will help them to cope with heat and drought, but we need to work on the issue quick.

(Modern cultivars aren't adapted either, but there is less of a stake in maintaining them in a certain geographical region)

A question to people active in Seedbanks: how are you adapting?

#Gardening #ClimateChangeGarden #ClimateChange #LocalVarieties #Landraces #Seedbanks #OldVarieties #TraditionalVarieties #Horriculture #Agriculture