PlantUP aims at the introduction and development of a cutting-edge research infrastructure to maintain and exploit the richness and heritage of Greek biodiversity. With innovative research in the field of natural products, botanical identification and conservation, genetic mapping of biodiversity and plant protection protocols against harmful organisms and viruses, this infrastructure aims to provide advanced research services and the development of innovative solutions and products.

The PlantUP infrastructure provides high-quality research services, post-doctoral researcher training in new techniques and increased chances of innovation to all those involved in the so-called “knowledge triangle” such as:

  • The research community (Greek and foreign universities, research institutes inside and outside the consortium) through the recruitment of new postdoctoral researchers who will be able to work in a highly innovative environment
  • The educational community, which will benefit from the production of new knowledge in the field of natural products, biodiversity and plant protection, and its dissemination in the scientific world, as well as the general public
  • Innovative receivers and end-users (small and medium-sized enterprises, public bodies) through new opportunities for exploration and exploitation of biodiversity
  • Several indirect recipients, such as the general public, PlantUP research related products (eg. farmers)

PlantUP provides access and attract researchers from Greece and the rest of the world with the aim of creating a research environment that promotes innovation, creativity, knowledge and collaboration between the Greek research community and local actors, industries, cooperatives, regulators, etc.

PlantUP, after its expiration, hopes to be established as a highly reliable research infrastructure for users from Greece and around the world, through high-quality research services to provide in the field of chemistry and technology of natural products, botany, organic valuation, and plant protection.

Implementation of PlantUP reinforces existing infrastructure and produces significant results such as:

  • Sustainable conservation of biodiversity and genetic resources
  • Maintaining the health of the herbal capital of Greece
  • Prevention of any threat of non-endemic harmful organisms
  • The availability of certified plant reproductive material
  • The development and introduction into the cultivation of species that are not cultivated so far systematically
  • Developing sustainable cultivation practices
  • The discovery of new natural products with therapeutic or agrochemical use
  • The development of added value products

More specifically, upon completion, PlantUP:

  • Has installed a digitized Ecopart which will include real samples of wild-type biodiversity, cultivated or potentially cultivated plant phenotypes of economic significance, relevant genetic data and advanced information in the form of DNA barcodes.
  • The Bank of Natural Products has been installed at a central level of infrastructure, including chemicals isolated from plant organisms and plant material, extracts and active fractions of plant material, digitized spectroscopic data, chromatographic profiles, metadata such as origin, presence in other bio-diversity samples, their established or potential pharmacological action.
  • Have developed protocols and organisms based on phenotypic and genomic data so that they can be applied for the sustainable exploitation of Greek biodiversity.
  • Develop protocols to optimize cultivation and agronomic practices, based on new technologies that deliver optimal yields and quality.
  • Provide innovative, patentable solutions for the efficient use of plant material to produce high added value products.
  • Have studied the possibility of escalating extraction and isolation processes to create new production processes.
  • Has applied analytical methodologies (chromatography, spectroscopy, metabolomics) for the advanced chemical profile and characterization of plant material (plants, extracts, substances) and end products.
  • Has developed protocols for the analysis of active ingredients contained in food, food supplements, pharmaceutical and para-pharmaceutical preparations, cosmetics, as well as protocols for food quality control (eg. detection of fraud).

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