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Imprint
Collaborative project: Development of aroma mints (Mentha spp.) with improved sensory quality and higher yield stability - Subproject A (MenthaSens)
Project
Project code: 281D110A21
Contract period: 01.04.2023
- 31.03.2026
Budget: 211,677 Euro
Purpose of research: Applied research
Keywords: abiotic stress, medicinal plants and spices, plant genetic resources, genetic resources, horticulture, climate change adaptation, greenhouse cultivation/protected cultivation
Fresh or dried leaves of the genus Mentha have long been used in human applications in the form of teas, extracts and essential oils. Mints have a strong refreshing odour and exhibit antimicrobial, antioxidant and insect-repellent properties, among others. When processed into tea and other products, it creates considerable added value for the processing companies.In European and North American cultivation, the largely sterile triple bastard Mentha × piperita has predominated due to its high menthol content. In Egypt, seed-propagating mints are preferred, while in India and China, M. arvensis is more commonly used. Rarely occurring sexual offspring of the sterile triple bastard M. × piperita differ greatly from each other and from the parent form, but prove the possibility of producing isolated progeny. At present, peppermint is propagated and maintained exclusively by head cuttings or stolons of the mother plant. Conservation selection is necessary. In addition to the difficulties for further breeding due to the sterility of the triple bastard, the included genome of water mint (Mentha aquatica) is possibly problematic for the desired drought stress tolerance in climate adaptation. Another reason for recommencing breeding in mints is that with the long-term one-sided selective cultivation for high menthol content, an increasing impoverishment in the spectrum of important traits such as aroma, a- and biotic resistance can be observed. This negative domestication effect in crop development is apparently caused by the low genetic diversity of the few spontaneous hybridisation events, in addition to the intensity of breeding. The overall objective of the project "MenthaSens" is to record the geno-, pheno- and chemotypic resources of the genus Mentha and to use this knowledge for breeding sensory and climate-adapted types.
Section overview
Subjects
- Plant Breeding
- Horticulture
- Specialised crops
Framework programme
Funding programme
Excutive institution
Institute for Breeding Research on Horticultural Crops (JKI-ZG)
