TRADITIONAL TOMATO VARIETIES AND CULTURAL PRACTICES: A CASE FOR AGRICULTURAL DIVERSIFICATION WITH IMPACT ON FOOD SECURITY AND HEALTH OF EUROPEAN POPULATION TRADITOM (DBA.AD001.023)

Area tematica

Scienze bio-agroalimentari

Area progettuale

Struttura responsabile del progetto di ricerca

Istituto di Bioscienze e Biorisorse (IBBR)

Responsabile di progetto

SILVANA GRANDILLO
Telefono: 081 25 39 489
E-mail: silvana.grandillo@ibbr.cnr.it

Abstract

Tomato is the second most consumed vegetable in the EU and a major dietary source of many nutrients, vitamins and antioxidants. Modern tomato breeding has resulted in uniform, high-yielding , pest-resistant cultivars, whose cultivation is widespread and has progressively replaced the use of traditional varieties, contributing to the genetic deplition of the crop. The strong focus on yield and pathogen resistance has also resulted in a loss of taste in modern cultivars, a general complaint of European consumers. This scenario provides an opportunity for the valorisation of traditional tomato varieties, in order to protect them from further genetic erosion and their replacement by modern cultivars.
The TRADITOM project, a multi-actor Research and Innovation project, funded within Horizon 2020, aims at extending cutting edge genomic, metabolic profiling and breeding technologies to the protection of the rich and differentiated genetic pool represented by traditional tomato varieties. It provides a case for agricultural diversification with impact on food security and health of the European population and supports economic development of rural farmers and related industry.

Obiettivi

The main objectives of TRADITOM are:
1) Information and Conservation. Genetic, epigenetic and phenotypic variability as well as knowledge from farms and in public repositories, will be concentrated in a TRADITOM database and seed repository
2) Assessment. The available genetic and phenotypic variability present in TRADITOM varieties, and the genetic and epigenetic differences from modern cultivars will be assessed.
3) Improvement. TRADITOM seeks to provide farmers and breeders with new versions of traditional varieties incorporating yield and disease resistance traits without affecting their good sensory characteristics.
4) Valorisation. TRADITOM will enhance valorisation of the traditional tomato varieties and impact traditional cultivation methods. This is achieved by a thorough characterization of nutritional and health compound contents, the identification of consumers' preferences, the evaluation of socio-economic factors limiting market diffusion, and the protection through PDO (Protected Designation of Origin) or PGI (Protected Geographical Indication) denominations.

Data inizio attività

01/03/2015

Parole chiave

TOMATO, TRADITIONAL VARIETES, CONSERVATION

Ultimo aggiornamento: 08/07/2025