The Government of Canada is creating new economic opportunities for farmers and rural communities by investing in technology that will harness new markets in the bioproducts sector. Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture Pierre Lemieux announced funding of $750,000 for a Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectrometer that will analyze plant material that could be used in healthy foods and nutraceuticals to improve health.
“Our Government is making smart investments to help farmers access new opportunities and value-added markets,” said Mr. Lemieux, who made the announcement on behalf of Federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz. “By investing in innovation, we are discovering the potential building blocks for healthy new food products and giving farmers access to new market opportunities.”
The NMR spectrometer will use radio waves and magnetic fields to identify and analyze plant molecules in very small samples, giving scientists a powerful new look into previously unknown plant molecules. Researchers will explore the health potential of crops such as flax, soybeans, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, potatoes and rosehips, and look at how farming practices can be adapted to improve the availability of compounds in these plants.
The NMR spectrometry research is headed by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada at the University of Prince Edward Island laboratory in Charlottetown and involves colleagues from the National Research Council Institute for Nutrisciences and Health and the University of Prince Edward Island.
