Science at UM [S01-ep12]: Variety Blends at the Food Technology Lab

[Podcast] - Published on February 25, 2022 in Science and Society

This week, Hélène Fréville fromthe AGAP Institute for Genetic Improvement and Adaptation of Tropical and Mediterranean Plants discusses the performance of variety mixtures in wheat cultivation. In the second half of the program, Charles Cunault introduces you to the food technology platform.

Ten thousand years ago, between the Mediterranean and the Euphrates, the first chapters of a long, very long history were being written: the story of humanity’s domestication of wheat. While the earliest crops resulted from spontaneous crossbreeding between wild grasses, humans quickly refined their methods—albeit over the course of several thousand years—gradually fostering the emergence of more robust and productive varieties. From that point on, the history of humanity and that of wheat remained inextricably linked, with varieties intermingling as a result of exchanges between civilizations. The Middle Ages saw the development of new farming methods: fields were plowed and expanded. By the 16th century, regions such as Beauce, Brie, and Haute-Auvergne were already specialized in cereal production. However, it wasn’t until the 19th century that true plant breeding began, with the first genealogical studies on wheat conducted by Louis de Vilmorin, who would go on to create the first modern wheat varieties: the Vilmorin varieties. You can’t be creative with every plant… The 20th century and the postwar period marked a turning point in the cultivation of this cereal, which consists of more than 30,000 genes and 42 chromosomes. More than ever, the focus was on yield. In just 50 years, France tripled its production by mandating single-variety crops.

Monoculture systems are now being challenged by agroecology, as our guest explains. Hélène Fréville is a researcher at the AGAP Institute for Genetic Improvement and Adaptation of Tropical and Mediterranean Plants. She presents her work on the performance of crop mixtures in wheat cultivation, analyzed from a genetic perspective. Her study was published in the journal New Phytologist on January 26.

In the second half of the show, we’ll take you through washing leeks, peeling potatoes, cooking rice, and blanching apples—but wait, this isn’t cooking; it’s the genius of food processing. Charles Cunault is our guide through this food technology lab, located at the Montpellier University Institute of Technology (IUT).

At UM Science, you’ve got the program—let’s get started!

Co-production: Divergence FM / University of Montpellier
Host: Lucie Lecherbonnier
Interview: Aline Périault / Lucie Lecherbonnier
Reporting: Aline Périault
Production: Anna Demeulandre

Tune in to the show “A l’UM la science” on Divergence FM 93.9