They are able to fix carbon, they do not need any fertilizer, and they are bursting with amino acids. There are many reasons to take an interest in legumes, and researchers at Aarhus University have been doing so for a long time.

Stig Uggerhøj Andersen, Associate Professor at the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, explains:

- Legumes are capable of fixing nitrogen in symbiosis with soil bacteria. This means that in addition to being able to fix carbon, which all plants can by means of photosynthesis, they also have access to the virtually unlimited amounts of nitrogen that are in the atmosphere - and therefore it is not necessary to add nitrogen fertilizer to legumes.

In addition, legumes can produce very protein-rich seeds that have a different composition of amino acids than the compositions found in cereal:

- We believe that legume protein will play a major role in the transition to a plant-based diet, because their composition of amino acids complement the composition in cereals. So you can actually get your nutritional needs fully covered without meat, Stig Uggerhøj Andersen continues.

Faba beans can be produced locally

At present, the large imports of plant protein, especially soy, are a challenge, and it will be a great advantage to be able to replace some of the imports with locally grown legumes.

Therefore, researchers are specifically interested in faba beans:

- Faba beans have a great yield potential in wet and cool climates, such as the Danish, so we hope that they will take up more of the landscape. Their flowers attract bees and other insects, so it would also benefit biodiversity, Stig Uggerhøj Andersen says.

Faba beans can already be found in the supermarkets in the form of meat substitute products, but the researchers hope that in the future, the beans will also become popular as vegetables for direct consumption, once their taste and consistency have been improved.

Plant breeding is a complex and lengthy process

However, before the faba beans can play an important role on the Danish fields, there is a need for plant breeding, the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics contributes to in collaboration with plant breeders:

- At Aarhus University, we work to understand how genes and the overall genome can affect various important properties in the legumes, for example disease resistance, stress tolerance and climate adaptation, in order to take advantage of the natural differences, Stig Uggerhøj Andersen says:

- Plant breeding is a long and complex process that requires a genetic understanding of the various traits that one would like to improve, and we therefore have a good collaboration with both plant breeders and plant physiologists.

Great European interest

It is not only in Denmark that there is interest in breeding faba beans, but all over Europe.

Stig Uggerhøj Andersen coordinates a large research project, ProFaba, which works to promote protein production in Europe by improving the faba bean as a European crop.

The project brings together partners with expertise in genomes, bioinformatics, quantitative genetics, insect resistance, disease resistance, abiotic stress tolerance, nitrogen fixation, field phenotypes, breeding, climate and phenological modeling to address the biggest obstacles to a breakthrough for the faba bean as a protein crop.

- We have a large group of partners all over Europe, and this means that we have the opportunity to grow the same set of faba bean lines in many different places. It gives us knowledge about which genotypes are suitable for specific climate areas now - and with the help of modeling also in the future, says Stig Uggerhøj Andersen:

- At Aarhus University, we focus on nitrogen fixation, where we test the interactions between many different nitrogen-fixing soil bacteria on different faba bean lines to find optimal combinations - and what is genetically behind the good combinations.

 Stig Uggerhøj Andersen talks about faba beans and the ProFaba project in this podcast ”Stig Uggerhøj Andersen or the fascination with legumes”, which is available in both English and Danish