Dr. Franziska Genzel, scientist at the Institute of Bio- and Geosciences (IBG-4)

"In the ToxPot project, I want to utilize the above-ground parts of the potato plant, that is, the leaves, flowers and berries. These have mostly ended up in the compost so far. However, they contain valuable substances: alkaloids, which make for interesting starting materials for bio-based plant protection products and the pharmaceutical industry. My colleagues and I are investigating how the cultivar, plant organs and developmental stage of the plants influence the content of known alkaloids. We also want to identify other industrially usable ingredients.”