WHEATBIOME

Current food production systems face many challenges (climate change, rampant demographic development) and new sustainable approaches are urgent. Wheat is a central crop in Europe and soil and plant microbial communities are of particular interest in wheat crops since (1) they are crucial solutions for restoring soils and protecting the crops and wheat-derived products against pathogens; (2) they play a key role in regulating plant metabolisms and, thus, the quality and properties of crops; and (3) they can be promising producers for a wide range of nutritional and healthy food and feed products. However, more studies on wheat microbiomes are needed as the current data is scarce.
The WHEATBIOME project will contribute in the understanding of the role of the wheat microbiome on sustainable development by undertaking cutting-edge research with strong collaboration between academia, industry, food system actors and governmental authorities distributed along 6 EU countries, and will explore the role of microbiomes in wheat production systems in a broad approach from soil to plate to:

• Understand the effect of biotic/abiotic factors on wheat microbiomes with 2 case studies and a lab-scale demonstrator.

• Unravel the soil-plant microbiome cross-talking on wheat metabolism and nutritional quality, and deliver sustainable farming practices for resilient and nutritious wheat crops via a new decision support system (DSS).

• Discover new fermentation capacities within indigenous wheat microbiomes and develop novel foods and feeds.

• Study the role of microbial fermentations in food/feed quality and reduce food waste by recirculating wheat by-products.

• Determine the interactions between wheat (prebiotics, probiotics, bioactive compounds, immunogenic proteins, etc.) and the human/animal microbiota, and its effect on human and animal health.

• Assess the perception of food system actors and citizens about microbiomes within food systems.