Grasspea

Abstract

Grasspea is an important food security crop, especially under severely adverse environmental conditions such as prolonged drought. The crop has a long history, but its cultivation has declined probably due to the presence of β-ODAP, a neurotoxin, which can cause a severe disease in people and domestic animals when grasspea is the main source of nutrition in an unbalanced diet. Grasspea, and the people who depend on it, can therefore benefit from the removal of this specific compound. A wide range of genetic and genomic tools are now available which can facilitate this development. The purpose of this article is to describe genetic and genomic resources and their specific features in grasspea.