paper

From Dependency to Diversity

Sep 2, 2026

Following the Legume Renaissance roadmap published in February, and the Livestock Reimagined piece in June, The Protein Project has just released a new publication: “From Dependency to Diversity: a scenario analysis of protein diversification pathways to reduce the EU’s soy dependency”.

This report was led by The Protein Project, and developed with inputs from leading research partners such as TABLE, Wageningen University & Research, KULeuven, IDDRI and EIT Food.

It identifies soy as a key vulnerability for Europe’s food security and affordability, and models how different combinations of the 4 protein diversification strategies — domestic protein crop production, circular use of agri-food side streams, domestic innovative protein production and consumption pattern diversification — can help reach a 20% soy import reduction by 2035.

It also includes a set of policy recommendations to make these pathways viable at scale, starting with the need for cross-DG coordination and a coherent full value chain approach, anchored in the upcoming EU Protein Plan, while also extending into specific measures across other EU policy files such as the CAP, ECF and FP10 frameworks and the Biotech Acts.

Progressing the breeding of lentil

Jul 23, 2026

This report sets out the progress made in boosting the breeding of lentil in the first 24 months of the Legume Generation project. It describes the establishment and progress of the Lentil Innovation Community (IC); the harmonisation of phenotyping protocols across Europe; the completion of the first cycle of multi-environment field trials; the launch of the second validation cycle; and the initiation of breeding tools and early demonstration activities.
The Lentil IC brings together partners from Greece, Italy, France, Germany, and the Netherlands in a coordinated platform for data, seed, and knowledge exchange. This collaboration with germplasm mainly from IPK, ICARDA, and information and lines from other previous projects such as INCREASE, Linsel, and other initiatives was assembled to broaden the narrow genetic base of lentil cultivated in Europe. Key breeding priorities included yield, drought tolerance, earliness, seed quality, yield stability, cold tolerance, and disease resistance.

Progressing the breeding of lupin

Jul 23, 2026

Lupins play an important role in European agriculture for food and feed protein production, especially in regions with poor sandy soils and frequent pre-summer drought. In the Legume Generation project, the Lupin Innovation Community (LUPIC) works together to improve grain yield and yield stability, which is urgently needed to serve farmers´ needs. Since the genepool of sweet lupins is genetically very narrow, the LUPIC approach is to develop new/better traits from bitter lupins to finally breed sweet lupin cultivars.

Progressing the breeding of pea

Jun 15, 2026

This report sets out the progress that has been made up until August 2024 in Legume Generation in boosting the breeding of pea.
The Pea Innovation Community (PIC) was established to address pressing challenges in pea cultivation while unlocking the crop’s potential for sustainable agriculture and protein diversification. Since its launch, the PIC has made substantial progress in building a coordinated research community, generating genomic and phenotypic resources, and establishing the community infrastructure required for pre-breeding. In particular, we have made progress in:
(i)
community building with active engagement across academic, public-sector, and commercial partners;
(ii)
characterising the Pisum diversity panel, consolidating genomic data and establishing a reference set for trait discovery;
(iii)
delivered multi-trait phenotyping across various environments, generating robust datasets on key traits relevant to climate resilience and yield; and
(iv)
established a pipeline linking phenotypic data with genotypic information, enabling preliminary trait–genotype analyses and preparing the groundwork for marker development, thereby creating new opportunities for integrating pea into both public and private breeding pipelines.
In the next steps, we will focus on expanding and integrating the multi-location trial datasets, advancing trait–genotype association analyses using pangeome approach, and developing new collaborative partnerships to extend the reach of PIC resources. These activities will support the generation of markers and pre-breeding lines for deployment within partner breeding programmes. The collaborative model has fostered new academic–industry partnerships, training opportunities, and international exchanges that will strengthen innovation capacity in legume research beyond this project.

Progressing the breeding of clover

May 13, 2026

This report sets out the progress that the Legume Generation Clover Innovation Community made up until August 2025 in boosting the breeding of clovers (Trifolium repens) and red clover (Trifolium pratense). These are two key forage legumes in agricultural systems.

Towards A Legume Renaissance: A practical European roadmap for fava beans for food and feed

Apr 22, 2026

This report presents a practical European roadmap to strengthen and scale protein crops, using fava beans as a concrete lens to show what is possible across both food and feed. Co-created with farmers (conventional, organic, regenerative), input providers, processors, retailers, food service, researchers and civil society, it maps today’s barriers and sets out coordinated policy and market solutions that work across farming systems. It translates these insights into concrete recommendations for key EU and national policy frameworks, including the CAP, CMO, NRP, ECF, and the Public Procurement Directive. By focusing in depth on fava beans while keeping recommendations transferable to other legumes, the roadmap shows how protein crops can reduce dependence on imported feed and fertilisers, improve soil health and biodiversity, and boost farm profitability and resilience. It quantifies the impact of these measures on farmer incomes, production volumes and strategic autonomy, and illustrates what a “Legume Renaissance” could deliver for European agriculture and diets by 2040.

An agenda for public investment in legume plant breeding

Apr 14, 2026

The purpose of this position paper is to provide an agenda for the development of European Union Horizon call topics relevant to legume breeding in Horizon Europe. It has four parts:
1. It all starts with a seed: what is plant breeding?
2. Further public investment in legume plant breeding.
3. Priority traits for publicly supported plant breeding.
4. Fostering efficient and focused ‘Horizon’ projects.

Plant breeding is a powerful technology. It is a cornerstone of competitive sustainable farming systems. The seeds we use today incorporate all the improvement plant breeders have made since our crop species were first domesticated, cascaded through the generations. In addition to directly benefiting farmers, the genetic progress in new improved varieties gained by a breeder in Europe is usually freely available to all competing breeders for their own further breeding. This free access fosters innovation and gives most plant genetic improvement a strong public-good character. However, as is typical for public goods, there is under-investment in breeding for most crops due to biological constraints on the revenue from breeding. This is especially so for minor crops such as the grain legumes. Grain legumes in particular are easily reproduced on farms without paying royalties and their minor crop status means that the market for their seed for multiplication by agents is limited. The overall result is sub-optimal investment in legume breeding from both an agricultural and wider societal viewpoint. This market failure applies to all relevant agronomic and quality traits, including crop yield.

Harnessing historical genebank data to accelerate pea breeding

Apr 8, 2026

The German Federal Ex Situ Genebank for Agricultural and Horticultural Crops (IPK) harbours over 3000 pea plant genetic resources (PGRs), backed up by corresponding information across 16 key agronomic and economical traits. The unbalanced structure and inconsistent format of this historical data has precluded effective leverage of genebank accessions, despite the opportunities contained in its genetic diversity. Therefore, a three-step statistical approach founded in linear mixed models was implemented to enable a rigorous and targeted data curation. Spring accessions revealed considerable breeding potential, with protein content exceeding market standards by almost one-fifth and with hundred grain weight that could match the upper limits reported for European elite varieties. This variation is embedded within structured populations, comprising five convarieties including sugar snaps and field pea, adding value for breeding across diverse morphotypes and market segments. Winter accessions demonstrated cold resilience, with post-winter survival rate up to 79.27% under minimum temperatures as low as − 17.1 °C. This variation is of particular relevance given the limited availability of winter-hardy cultivars able to evade summer drought and heat stresses. Transformation of the IPK Genebank into a bio-digital resource redirects formerly static material into central leverage for plant breeding in view of contemporary challenges. As such, this investigation activated the IPK pea population for use in among others breeding for a wide variety of ideotypes, research into adaptation, and future combination with omics studies.

Dissection of genomic regions associated with plant height and flowering time in a diverse panel of common snap bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) using GWAS

Apr 8, 2026

Common bean is a vital legume in both human nutrition and livestock feed. Key agronomic traits, such as plant height (PH) and flowering time (FT), significantly influence yield and physiological adaptation. Our study aimed to investigate the genetic architecture of these traits through a genome-wide association study (GWAS) utilizing a mixed linear model (MLM) in a panel of snap bush beans predominantly of European origin. We analyzed 271 genotypes, comprising 82 test entries of 51 modern varieties and elite lines along with 31 genebank accessions. Phenotypic data for PH and FT were collected under controlled conditions in a phytochamber. Genotyping was performed using genotyping-by-sequencing. Genetic diversity and population structure were assessed at both the group level (breeders’ versus genebank) and the individual genotype level through neighbor-joining (NJ) phylogenetic analysis, principal coordinate analysis (PCoA), analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA), and STRUCTURE software. The population structure analysis revealed the presence of four genetic clusters. While breeder-derived varieties and elite lines were distributed across all clusters, a clear genetic differentiation was observed between breeder and genebank accessions. GWAS identified 25 and 19 significant marker-trait associations (MTAs) for PH and FT, respectively, which were assigned to 12 and 8 quantitative trait loci (QTL). Notably, nine QTL for PH located on chromosomes Pv05, Pv10 and Pv11, and eight QTL for FT on chromosomes Pv04, Pv05, Pv07, Pv10 and Pv11, represent novel findings not previously reported. The QTL with the largest phenotypic effect were identified on chromosomes Pv04 and Pv10, accounting for 15.9% and 5.4% of phenotypic variance for PH and FT, respectively. In conclusion, our study uncovers several novel loci associated with PH and FT providing targets for breeding activities, and offers insights into the population structure differences between breeders´ and genebank bean genotypes.

Progressing the breeding of phaseolus bean

Apr 8, 2026

This report documents the progress that has been made up until August 2024 by Legume Generation to boost the breeding of phaseolus beans.
Our activities are guided by the expectations of the breeders of our innovation community. Our innovation community consists of 20 partners with currently 11 breeding and 13 pre-breeding programmes. By addressing their demands, we will gain improved phaseolus crops that compete better with other crops on farms. Phaseolus bean encompasses several crops which we consider in our work: Common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) as snap (vegetable or French bean) and dry bean. There are two growing forms for each: bush and pole bean each. Common bean is also cultivated in intercropping for feed. The scarlet runner bean (Phaseolus coccineus L.) is a pole bean grown for both snap and dry beans.

Progressing the breeding of soybean

Mar 27, 2026

Soybean is the key legume crop in European agriculture for food and feed protein production. In the Legume Generation project (Horizon Europe), the European Soybean Innovation Community with its major breeding programmes have joined forces to boost soybean breeding. As there is a growing need for improved varieties, the project supports the innovation community in its breeding and innovation efforts for better adaptation to European growing conditions, competitive yield performance, and improved end-use quality for food production.

Chickpea Variety Assessment in Austria’s Arid Growing Region: Growth, Yield, and Chemical Composition

Mar 27, 2026

Chickpea, a high-quality protein source, is still rarely cultivated in Austrian agriculture, although its high drought tolerance would make it a suitable alternative crop in the eastern arid growing regions, where climate change increasingly causes drought stress. Most European countries, including Austria, are still heavily dependent on imports, with access to chickpea varieties that are adapted to local environmental conditions being limited. In this study, 24 different foreign chickpea varieties of both the Kabuli and the Desi types were grown and assessed in a field trial in the arid Austrian growing region Marchfeld in 2023. The varieties differed in phenotypical appearance, plant development, yield, yield components, and chemical composition of the harvested material. Measured yield at normalized 86% dry matter content ranged between 16 and 24 dt/ha, with the three highest yielding varieties being of the Kabuli type. Protein content ranged from 19.2% to 23.0%. Seeds from varieties of the Kabuli type displayed a higher total saccharide content, whereas those of the Desi type exhibited a higher polyphenol content. The findings from our field trial suggest that chickpea holds promise as a viable alternative crop for dry regions in Eastern Austria.

Keywords: chickpea, drought tolerance, climate change adaptation, plant-based protein, variety characteristics

Soy and the gut microbiome: a bi-directional relationship shaping nutrition and health

Mar 26, 2026

The gut microbiome is a transducer of the health effects of many food ingredients because of its ability to convert them into health-impacting compounds. Plant-forward diets and plant ingredients are recognized as health promoting, with recent added impetus provided by the drive to provide consumers with more sustainable protein sources than meat. Soy-based foods are good protein sources, and they contain a variety of other ingredients such as fibre that can impact the microbiome. This review explores the health benefits reported for soy-containing foods and the role of microbiome involvement in health effects. It describes the bi-directional relationship between dietary soy and the human gut microbiome whereby microbial metabolism transforms soy-derived compounds into bioactive forms that influence host physiology, while soy consumption shapes gut microbiota composition and activity. Factors modulating the health effects of soy such as fermentation, bioavailability, and consumers’ individual microbiome configurations are discussed. Current research limitations, including inconsistent methodologies and a lack of longitudinal dietary intervention studies are addressed, as well as the need for multiple omics approaches in microbiome research. Finally, we present an interdisciplinary perspective of the complexity of soy-microbiome interactions, potential for health promotion, and relationship to sustainability.

Ageing, microbes and health

Mar 5, 2026

The human gut microbiome is a modifier of the risk for many non-communicable diseases throughout the lifespan. In ageing, the effect of the microbiome appears to be more pronounced because of the lower physiological reserve. Microbial metabolites and other bioactive products act upon some of the key physiological processes involved in the Hallmarks of Ageing. Dietary interventions that delay age-related change in the microbiome have also led to delayed onset of ageing-related health loss, and improved levels of cognitive function, inflammatory status and frailty. Cross-sectional analysis of thousands of gut microbiome datasets from around the world has identified key taxa that are depleted during accelerated health loss, and other taxa that become more abundant, but these signatures differ in some geographical regions. The key challenges for research in this area are to experimentally prove that particular species or strains directly contribute to health-related ageing outcomes, and to develop practical ways of retaining or re-administering them on a Population basis. The promotion of a health-associated gut microbiome in ageing mirrors the challenge of maintaining planetary microbial ecosystems in the face of anthropogenic effects and climate change. Lessons learned from acting at the individual level can inform microbiome-targeting strategies for achieving Sustainable Development Goals at a global level.

Quantitative Assessment of Soluble Carbohydrates in Two Panels of Pulses (Phaseolus vulgaris and Pisum sativum) Using Ultrasound-Assisted Extraction (UAE) and HPLC

Feb 2, 2026

Pulses (edible dry seeds from legumes) are among the most important crops worldwide.
These legumes contain a diverse range of carbohydrates, some of which, such as RFOs
(raffinose family oligosaccharides), are considered antinutritional factors due to their negative
impact on digestion. An analytical method based on high-power ultrasound-assisted
extraction and HPLC analysis was developed and validated for the quantitative determination
of soluble carbohydrates (verbascose, stachyose, raffinose, sucrose, galactinol,
glucose, galactose, fructose, and myo-inositol) in common beans (Phaseolus vulgaris) and
peas (Pisum sativum). The proposed method is fast (extraction time: 1 min), reproducible
(RDS: 6.9%), accurate (97.5%), and environmentally sustainable. The method was applied
to local collections of P. vulgaris (n = 12) and P. sativum (n = 34), revealing similar qualitative
profiles but notable quantitative differences. In P. vulgaris, sucrose and stachyose were predominant,
while in P. sativum, verbascose stood out. The total sugar content was higher in
peas, especially in commercial varieties, which also showed elevated sucrose levels. Some
local varieties combined high sugar content with favorable relative levels between RFOs
and other sugars, making them valuable candidates for breeding programs. Linear discriminant
analysis enabled classification and prediction of species and varieties, confirming the
usefulness of soluble carbohydrates as tools for characterizing these plant materials.

Chromosome-level dataset from de novo assembly of a Fabada common bean genotype using Illumina and PacBio technologies

Jan 9, 2026

Fabada is a traditional market class of common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) cultivated in northern Spain, recognized for its distinctive seed phenotype with very large, white, and oblong seeds. High-throughput genotyping of this market class revealed that its genome is predominantly of Andean origin, with approximately 30 % introgression from the Mesoamerican gene pool. The de novo genome assembly of the A25 bean genotype, derived from the local cultivar ‘Andecha’ which belongs to the Fabada market class, is described. Two complementary technologies were used: PacBio (Sequel II) for long reads and Illumina (NovaSeq PE150) for short reads. The depth of coverage achieved was 112x for Illumina and 47x for PacBio. Genome assembly resulted in 468,9 Mbp (98.5 % BUSCO completeness), organized into 1363 scaffolds plus the mitochondrial and chloroplast genomes. Based on the reference genome (NCBI accession number GCF000499845.2), these scaffolds were organized into 11 chromosomes and 169 unplaced scaffolds. The mitochondrial genome was assembled based on that of P. vulgaris (NCBI accession number NC_045135). Two mitochondrial scaffolds were obtained, one of 371,437 bp, and the other of 11,183 bp. The chloroplast genome was assembled based on that of P. vulgaris (NCBI accession NC_009259.1), resulting in 161,310 bp. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first available genome of a common bean accession exhibiting recombination between the two major gene pools, Andean and Mesoamerican, and the second assembled genome of a European common bean.

Characterisation and breeding of legume crops

Dec 19, 2025

The purpose of this paper is to characterise protein crops and to discuss the challenges and opportunities for the genetic improvement of legumes in a changing environment. It relates to the pre-farm gate part of protein crop value chains. We hope to address in particular further public (such as the European Union) and private investors (breeders) and breeders in crop genetic improvement.

Underutilised crops in Europe: An interdisciplinary approach towards sustainable practices

Dec 15, 2025

In the context of a rapidly growing global population and significant climatic and environmental change, there is an urgent need to produce nutritious food in a sustainable manner. Some crops are underutilised in Europe, despite their suitability to local environments, viability for sustainable production and potential to improve diets. Rye (Secale cereale) has a long history of cultivation in Europe, yet is underutilised owing to complex historical, socio-cultural, socio-political, socio-economic and agronomic factors. This paper explores an innovative, cross-sectoral approach that harmonises existing datasets from archaeology, plant science, nutrition and policy, and establishes an interdisciplinary dialogue to tackle this challenge

paper

From Dependency to Diversity

Progressing the breeding of lentil

Progressing the breeding of lupin

Progressing the breeding of pea

Progressing the breeding of clover

Towards A Legume Renaissance: A practical European roadmap for fava beans for food and feed

An agenda for public investment in legume plant breeding

Harnessing historical genebank data to accelerate pea breeding

Dissection of genomic regions associated with plant height and flowering time in a diverse panel of common snap bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) using GWAS

Progressing the breeding of phaseolus bean

Progressing the breeding of soybean

Chickpea Variety Assessment in Austria’s Arid Growing Region: Growth, Yield, and Chemical Composition

Soy and the gut microbiome: a bi-directional relationship shaping nutrition and health

Ageing, microbes and health

Quantitative Assessment of Soluble Carbohydrates in Two Panels of Pulses (Phaseolus vulgaris and Pisum sativum) Using Ultrasound-Assisted Extraction (UAE) and HPLC

Chromosome-level dataset from de novo assembly of a Fabada common bean genotype using Illumina and PacBio technologies

Characterisation and breeding of legume crops

Underutilised crops in Europe: An interdisciplinary approach towards sustainable practices

The Legume Generation Innovation Communities

Phenotyping of European soybean varieties with different time to maturity for drought tolerance

The unexplored diversity of rough-seeded lupins provides rich genomic resources and insights into lupin evolution

Establishment and phenotypic characterization of genetically diverse core collections of Lupinus albus

The plan for boosting the breeding of clover

The plan for boosting the breeding of phaseolus bean

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