Thursday, 22 June 2023 What is the genetic and chemical diversity of Slovenian and Corsican immortelle?
At the beginning of June, our faculty was visited by Prof. Marc Gibernau and Prof. Félix Tomi from the University of Corsica as part of the bilateral project »Genetic & chemical diversity of Slovenian & Corsican immortelle«.
The implementation of the project started on January 1 this year, and in the collaboration between UP and the University of Corsica (CNRS - Laboratoire Sciences Pour l'Environnment), the leading institution in Slovenia is UP FAMNIT.
The department of UP FAMNIT, within which the project is implemented, is the Department of Applied Natural Sciences.
It was the first visit as part of the project, a team of Slovenian researchers will visit the University of Corsica this fall, and two more meetings will follow next year.
Presentation of the project:
Immortele (Helichrysum italicum (Roth) G. Don) represents a bio-factory of natural phyto-compounds, therefore the holistic study of the plant is extremely important, which enables the achievement of the desired quality of plant extracts and essential oils, the discovery of targeted natural compounds and their potential in industry. Bioactive properties have contributed to its attraction and introduction into agricultural production, especially in Corsica, Spain and the Balkan countries. Corsican immortelle essential oil is the most recognized and appreciated worldwide in the cosmetic and pharmaceutical industry, while Slovenia is a pioneer in the field of immortelle cultivation, since only family farms that offer various immortelle products deal with immortelle.
The main problem of the countries in the Adriatic area is the uncontrolled flow of planting material and inappropriate declarations without precise identification of subspecies/species, therefore the main purpose of the project is the valorization and authentication of genetic resources of immortelle from different areas of the Mediterranean with the help of biochemical and genetic profiling. The researchers of UP FAMNIT and UC-CNRS (University of Corsica – CNRS, Laboratoire Sciences Pour l'Environnment) have not cooperated until now, so the project opens up new possibilities for the establishment of long-term research cooperation between universities that are focused on the holistic study of Mediterranean plants.
The project is managed by dr. Alenka Baruca Arbeiter, and the financer is the Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency (ARRS).
The project will last until 31 December 2024.
