I-Corps: An accelerated growing platform for the production of tea

I-Corps：茶叶生产的加速增长平台

• 批准号: 2208092
• 负责人: Jacquelyn Gervay-Hague
• 金额: $ 5万
• 依托单位: University of California-Davis
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2022-04-01 至 2023-03-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2208092&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Corps; accelerated; growing; platform; production

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is the development of an accelerated growing platform for the efficient production of high-quality tea. Camellia sinensis, the plant from which tea is extracted, is an evergreen woody plant. It takes approximately 2 years to propagate liners from mother stock and an additional 5 years of field growth before reaching a steady production potential of approximately 0.5 lbs dried tea per plant per year. It costs ~$100K/acre to establish a 3,600-plant density, not including land costs. The proposed technology has the potential to reduce the time to harvest from 7 years to 6 months, it may be rapidly scaled, and the chemical profile of the leaf grown is tunable through specific nutrient applications. In addition, the technology may be used to produce novel tea products for consumers.This I-Corps project is based on the development of platform technology to accelerate tea plant growth that, in conjunction with proprietary nutrient solutions, reduce the time to tea harvest from years to weeks. In addition, the health and sensory attributes of the tea leaf produced in the proposed technology are tunable to desired qualities and consumer preferences. The technology may be easily adopted by farmers wishing to diversify their crops. The proposed technology system is especially well suited for growing tea in automated controlled indoor environments. Indoor production of tea may have a commercial advantage compared to existing tea production approaches because the chemical content of the leaf may be controlled by nutrient application and limited exposure to microbes and pathogens. Combining the rapid growth platform with tuning of sensory and health attributes offers enormous tea marketing potential.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

该 I-Corps 项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力是开发一个用于高效生产优质茶叶的加速增长平台。 茶树是提取茶的植物，是一种常绿木本植物。 从母株繁殖衬里大约需要 2 年时间，并需要额外 5 年的田间生长才能达到每株植物每年约 0.5 磅干茶的稳定生产潜力。 建立 3,600 株植物密度的成本约为每英亩 10 万美元（不包括土地成本）。所提出的技术有可能将收获时间从 7 年缩短到 6 个月，它可以迅速扩大规模，并且可以通过特定的养分应用来调节生长的叶子的化学成分。 此外，该技术还可用于为消费者生产新颖的茶产品。该 I-Corps 项目基于加速茶树生长的平台技术开发，结合​​专有的营养解决方案，将茶叶收获时间从数年缩短至数周。 此外，采用所提出的技术生产的茶叶的健康和感官属性可根据所需的品质和消费者的喜好进行调节。 希望实现作物多样化的农民可以轻松采用该技术。 所提出的技术系统特别适合在自动化控制的室内环境中种植茶叶。 与现有的茶叶生产方法相比，室内生产茶叶可能具有商业优势，因为茶叶的化学含量可以通过养分施用和限制与微生物和病原体的接触来控制。 将快速增长的平台与感官和健康属性的调整相结合，提供了巨大的茶叶营销潜力。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。