A team of researchers from the University will be attending The Watercress Festival in Alresford this weekend (Sunday 15 May) to talk about their latest work in developing new watercress varieties.
Few foods have their own festival but The Watercress Festival is an annual event that routinely attracts more than 15,000 visitors, where celebrity chefs demonstrate their latest recipes and the world watercress eating championship is hosted.
Southampton scientists, funded by Vitacress Salads and Sainsbury’s, under the leadership of Professor Gail Taylor from Biological Sciences have spent the last ten years working to find new wild watercress varieties, currently not grown for the UK market. One of these, registered as ‘Boldrewood’, is a dwarf type that has a sweeter taste, but still maintains the concentration of a plant ‘stress’ chemical – glucosinolate – that when chewed, releases PEITC that is known to halt the progress of cancer tumour growth.
The new watercress is currently being trialled but early findings look promising, with a research paper1 that identifies the exact gene expression differences between ‘Boldrewood’ and the watercress currently available in the supermarkets. ‘Boldrewood’ has a promising future for those who prefer a tiny sweeter leaf.
Professor Taylor says:
“Watercress has been cultivated in the UK since 1808, with a particular focus in Hampshire and very little has changed – watercress prefers highly alkaline water and can be picked through much of the year.
“It is a valuable addition to any plate being the most nutrient dense of any vegetable – packed full of vitamins A and C, calcium and most importantly glucosinolate. This gives watercress the peppery flavour with which we are all familiar. Interest in eating watercress has grown in recent years, as links between diet and health have emerged.”
You can read more about this story on the Biological Sciences webpages.