Half are all Danes are overweight, and more than 10 percent have type 2 diabetes. In addition to the individual patient's serious health challenges, diabetes and obesity cost society a great deal of money. The Diabetes Association estimates that diabetes in Denmark alone is responsible for expenses of up to DKK 30 billion annually. At a webinar in connection with Plantekongres 2022, Kim Hebelstrup, associate professor at the Department of Agroecology at Aarhus University, will explain how he has helped to develop a new cereal crops variety with health-promoting properties.

“New and precise breeding methods provide the opportunity to develop high-value crops with unique properties, and for a specialized purpose and market. In a number of projects, we have focused on developing barley with completely unique types of carbohydrates, which potentially makes them particularly suitable for controlling blood sugar levels, as a possible health-promoting effect in healthy people and in the treatment of people with type-2 diabetes, ”Says Kim Hebelstrup.

Wants to put a stop to lifestyle diseases

The projects are a collaboration between Aarhus University, University of Copenhagen, SEGES, Aarhus University Hospital and the spin-out company Plantcarb Aps, which was started by and based on research into crop carbohydrates and starch, made by Kim Hebelstrup, AU and Andreas Blennow, KU. Here, a grain variety has been developed that consists of refined varieties of both contemporary and ancient barley varieties. Through processing, the grain content of starch is optimized so that only the healthy part of the starch remains. It is called resistant starch, and works by increasing blood sugar only to a limited extent after a meal.
Researchers call it HIAMBA grains. At a webinar on Thursday 20 January at 14.15 - 15.00 Kim Hebelstrup will talk about how this new grain variety has been reached through special processing techniques, as well as how it can potentially contribute to e.g. to prevent diabetes.

Virtual Plant Congress

This webinar is part of the Plant Congress 2022. Again this year, the Plant Congress is being held virtually due to the Covid-19 pandemic. But the content is still the same, now you can just follow the many exciting presentations at home from the living room when they are held as webinars. In addition to this webinar, you can hear about:

• Changes in carbon content in Danish agricultural soil - The latest figures for Danish agricultural soil's carbon content are presented. 
   
• Reaching the target of zero emissions - Production of fertilizer and nitrous oxide emissions from the field are heavy items in the climate footprint of cereal crops. Hear about a new strategic effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from plant production and how you can reduce emissions in the field using new cultivation strategies.
   
• Diseases in cereal crops - Get the latest experimental results and strategies for controlling fungal diseases in cereals presented. Also hear how the new fungicide Balaya fared against Septoria in winter wheat in 2021, and get an idea of ​​the future use in winter wheat. In addition, there is a focus on fungal control in other cereal crops.

Read more about the Plantekongres 2022 here www.plantekongres.dk