To rise to the challenge of reconnecting agriculture, the environment, food and health, it is essential to exploit data from heterogeneous sources and formats. And that's a major challenge! However, ontologies offer a solution, as they provide a formal structure for describing and better interpreting data.

Juices made from table apples are nutritionally poor, being rich in sugars and low in antioxidants. However, in France, some juices are produced from local varieties whose cultivation has continued with cider production. So the cider orchard offers a real opportunity to produce products rich in polyphenols, provided the impact on organoleptic qualities can be controlled.

Unlike domesticated cereals where starch is the predominant polysaccharide, the grains of the model grass plant, Brachypodium distachyon, have a particularly high content of mixed β-glucans, 45% of the grain weight, contained in thick cell walls, and a low starch content, less than 6%. However, no data were available prior to our study on the function of this polysaccharide during grain germination.

Increased exposure of the population to hemp seed has already revealed allergies, with symptoms ranging from isolated skin manifestations to anaphylaxis. These allergies can occur in patients who are already allergic to another food, in what is known as a cross-reaction.

The protein transition aims to reduce the proportion of animal proteins in our diet in favour of plant proteins, not least because of growing concern for environmental sustainability. In this context, legumes such as peas and lupins are proving to be promising sources of dietary protein. However, their deployment in food systems is limited by the fact that their functional properties (particularly in terms of emulsifying, foaming and gelling capacities) are often far from optimal.

The aim of quantitative histology is to extract descriptors of the morphological and chemical spatial heterogeneity of tissues in order to study their role in quality of use. Collections of large multispectral images are easily acquired. However, exploring the data without a priori remains a critical step.

Nutrients that are essential to human health are provided exclusively through food, such as plant sterols (which reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease) and lutein (a xanthophyll carotenoid that is important for the eyes). However, they are consumed in quantities that are too small to have any beneficial effects, and their solubility in water and lipids is very low, which limits their incorporation into food formulations and reduces their bioavailability.

Controlled drug delivery is a major therapeutic challenge, and the development of personalised systems for releasing active ingredients is crucial for the pharmaceutical industry.

The cell wall of plants is made up of a network that is both extremely strong and flexible, mainly composed of polysaccharides (long chains of sugars), including pectins, which have long been known for their gelling properties. In vivo, the wall must be both plastic, to allow cell growth, and solid, to perform its protective functions.

Growing tomatoes in glasshouses generates a lot of waste, combining plant waste and plastic accessories that cannot be composted. This mixed waste represents millions of tonnes per year in Europe, and incineration is costly both economically and environmentally.