Åsa Grimberg

I have always been fascinated by the green organisms that surround us and on which we are so dependent for our survival. I work with research and teaching on the genetic regulation of crop traits important for seed quality and its connection to use in food. Through my work, I want to contribute with new knowledge for use in plant breeding and agriculture.

We depend on plants' ability to convert solar energy into chemical energy in the form of starch, oil, protein and sugar, which are usually stored in seeds or tubers. This is the raw material for all our food. The proportions, and also the quality, of these storage compounds in the seeds of different crops, or in different varieties of the same crop, determine the end ​​use of a crop.

Seed quality can be regulated by both genetic and environmental factors. My research interest is the genetic regulation of seed quality, but also of earliness traits that affect the formation of the seed, and how we can use such knowledge to develop improved varieties of our crops to our advantage.

In recent years, my research focus has been on legumes. We should grow more legumes in Sweden and also eat a larger proportion of them than we do today, which contributes to a more sustainable food production system. This is because legumes, through their ability to fix nitrogen from the air, do not require nitrogen fertilizer, and by increasing the cultivation of legumes we can increase the diversity in agriculture.

Research projects that I am leading or actively is taking part in:

Future faba beans for food and feed, SLU Grogrund.
Parnters are Lantmännen, Kalmar Ölands trädgårdsprodukter, GroPro, and Sveriges stärkelseproducenter. The goal is to develop genetic breeding tools for use in plant breeding of new varieties of field bean for cultivation in Sweden.

FabaNova Climate-ready field beans for the Nordic and Baltic region, NordForsk
Partners are the University of Helsinki (HU), the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU), the Norwegian Institute for Bioeconomy (NIBIO), and the Centre of Estonian Rural Research and Knowledge (METK). One goal is to characterize earliness traits in a diversity panel of field beans in field trials at different Nordic latitudes.

The pea - the key for future green protein, SLU Grogrund
Partners are Lantmännen, Kalmar Ölands trädgårdsprodukter, FoodHills, and Sveriges stärkelseproducenter. The goal is to develop genetic breeding tools for use in plant breeding of new varieties of pea for cultivation in Sweden.

IPPM Integrated plant and pollinator health for sustainable production of plant Protein, FORMAS.
Partners are Lantmännen, the Swedish Board of Agriculture and the Swedish Agricultural Society. The project tests the extent to which preventive methods without the use of chemical plant protection products can contribute to sustainable production of field beans.

Sensorics: Tasty food products from peas and beans, FORMAS
Partners are Lund University, Linnaeus University, Research Institutes of Sweden (RISE), Kalmar Ölands trädgårdsprodukter, IPSOS. Here we explore sensorics as a tool for use in plant breeding.

FORCE Food resilience and competitiveness, FORMAS
Partners are Lund University, Agrifood Economics Centre and KTH, as well as a number of companies, municipalities and regions. One goal is to increase the production of innovative foods made from Swedish beans, peas, whole grains and oilseeds, or from residual streams from food production. Field trials with pea and field bean will be conducted to characterize earliness traits and cold tolerance with the aim of developing genetic markers for use in plant breeding.

I teach undergraduate courses in plant biochemistry where we work very closely with our research in the laboratory, as well as in various courses on plant breeding-related themes. I also teach courses for doctoral students in general skills such as writing scientific articles and giving oral presentations. I have created and am the course leader for the summer course 'The history and future of cultivated plants in Sweden'.

I am currently supervisor for four doctoral students and regularly supervise and examine bachelor's and master's theses.