The main world crops will be described in terms of origin, progress and limitations.

The course will illustrate how the peculiarities of numerous Italian plant food products, often outdated, are related to the response of the entire plant, and / or its edible organs, to changes in temperature, as shots of cold or heat, drought and alterations in organic / inorganic compounds in the soil, illustrating the relative biotechnology investigation, and possible enhancement in value.
At this end will be shown:
1) Knowledge and understanding • - Students will need to know and understand:
- Techniques for the maintenance and propagation of native species, obsolete species/varieties, and new cultivars, aimed to enhance their useful traits in unconventional breeding programs (e.g., wheat, spelled, olive, rice, citrus fruits, but also South American plants, Quinoa, corn).
- Techniques for the production of somatic embryos and synthetic seeds for maintenance and large-scale preservation of agri-business cultivars recalcitrant in sexual reproduction.
- Cultivation techniques for the optimization of sustainable production through the recovery of waste in wine and olive oil production chains, to obtain natural products to use in integrated agriculture programs.
- Techniques for the morpho-anatomy of ovaries and fruits for characterizing their developmental phases, and the related accumulation phases of nutrients in the pulp and seeds.
- Biotechnologies to improve seed germination and plant growth, to obtain products free of pesticide residues and / or contaminants in an integrated crop management.
- Use of the mechanisms of self-incompatibility and biotechnological apomixis, aimed at the production of seedless fruits, to increase their economic value.
- Biotechnology for inducing hermaphroditism in male sterile species of agricultural interest to increase agricultural productivity (e.g., kiwifruit and cereals).
2) Ability to apply knowledge and understanding Students will have to demonstrate their ability to apply the knowledge acquired on the topics of the program (see above) and understand its agronomic implications by deepening the case studies exposed in point 1 and preparing short papers on related topics to be presented orally in the exam.
3) Making judgments On the basis of what is explained in the course program (see point 1), students will have to interpret the data shown in the Program in a way that they deem useful for determining their own independent judgment, including a reflection on social, scientific or ethics related to them.
4) Communication skills. Students will have to learn from the course how to communicate information, ideas, problems and propose solutions.
5) Learning skills. The learning skills developed by the students through the teaching provided will have to be used to enable them to undertake subsequent studies independently.

The teacher will provide summary articles on specific topics of the program and electronic support material. -However, the following texts are recommended:

-Plants and Society by Leventin and McMahon (McGraw-Hill ed.)
-Piante alimentari. Biologia. Composizione Chimica. Utilizzo di Calogero Rinallo (Piccin ed.)
-Genetica, Biotecnologie e Agricoltura sostenibile di F.Sala, S.Aceto, G.Cirvilleri, A.Continella, R.Federico, E.Filippone, A.Gentile, S. La Malfa, R. La Rosa, C. Rapisarda, G. Rea, P. Torrigiani. (Idelson-Gnocchi ed.)