Common Vetch: A Drought Tolerant, High Protein Neglected Leguminous Crop With Potential as a Sustainable Food Source

Vy Nguyen; Samuel Riley; Stuart Nagel; Ian Fisk; Iain R Searle

doi:10.3389/fpls.2020.00818

Common Vetch: A Drought Tolerant, High Protein Neglected Leguminous Crop With Potential as a Sustainable Food Source

Front Plant Sci. 2020 Jun 19:11:818. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2020.00818. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Vy Nguyen^{1

2}, Samuel Riley^{1

2}, Stuart Nagel³, Ian Fisk⁴, Iain R Searle^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ School of Biological Sciences, School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia.
² Shanghai Jiao Tong University Joint International Centre for Agriculture and Health, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia.
³ South Australian Research and Development Institute, Adelaide, SA, Australia.
⁴ Division of Food Science, Nutrition and Dietetics, School of Biosciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom.

Abstract

Global demand for protein is predicted to increase by 50% by 2050. To meet the increasing demand whilst ensuring sustainability, protein sources that generate low-greenhouse gas emissions are required, and protein-rich legume seeds have the potential to make a significant contribution. Legumes like common vetch (Vicia sativa) that grow in marginal cropping zones and are drought tolerant and resilient to changeable annual weather patterns, will be in high demand as the climate changes. In common vetch, the inability to eliminate the γ-glutamyl-β-cyano-alanine (GBCA) toxin present in the seed has hindered its utility as a human and animal food for many decades, leaving this highly resilient species an "orphan" legume. However, the availability of the vetch genome and transcriptome data together with the application of CRISPR-Cas genome editing technologies lay the foundations to eliminate the GBCA toxin constraint. In the near future, we anticipate that a zero-toxin vetch variety will become a significant contributor to global protein demand.

Keywords: Vicia sativa; common vetch; legume; plant-based protein; sustainable; vetch toxin; γ-glutamyl-β-cyano-alanine.