One promising strategy for constructing sustainable food systems is the development of markets for native underutilized Species (NUS).
Cultivating native species integrates well into local ecosystems, usually requiring less land, water, and agrochemicals than traditional crops, while supporting the surrounding biodiversity. However, adopting a native species as a crop requires a market to demand its produce.
Rene Lobo wants to help create that market for 𝘚𝘰𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘶𝘮 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘶𝘮 (chilto, tree tomato, tamarillo), a NUS from the Central Andes, by testing enzymatic transformations of its juice to improve its nutritional properties and turn the fruits into an attractive product within commercial trends and into a product that is beneficial to the health of the consumer.
Thanks to María Inés Torino (Cerela-CONICET) and Agustin López Munguía (IBT-UNAM) for facilitating Lobo's fellowship, where he learned to construct biocatalysts and to apply molecular analysis techniques for this purpose.
