Videos

Did you know that many products in your shopping cart contain 'surfactants'? For example, this 'magic' ingredient provides foaming soap to longer-lasting food! But did you also know that almost half of surfactants come from petroleum? In her research, bioengineer Elvira Bytyqi is working on an eco-friendly alternative: biosurfactants! 🌱

Everyone loves sugar. It's delicious and sweet, but healthy? Not really. Yet there are healthy sugars that are lower in calories, fight plaque, or stimulate your gut flora. Unfortunately, these are rare in nature. That's why bioengineer Emma De Beul is studying how to convert unhealthy sugars into healthy varieties - with the help of clever enzymes.

You buy strawberries in the supermarket, but when you want to bite into one of those juicy strawberries at home, you stumble upon a moldy one in the package. Yuck. But did you know that the solution to this problem may be right under our feet? Bioengineer Jasmine De Rop (UGent) explains how soil bacteria might offer an unexpected way to tackle this issue.

Sinterklaas is almost here, and for many in Belgium, it's a time for chocolate. 🍫 But have you noticed chocolate is getting more and more expensive? 💸 Eliza Van de Sande is looking to unravel the mystery behind the cacao pollinators, to make cocoa farming more efficient and cheaper...

Fafalel, hummus, vegetable burgers, ... These delicacies are made from protein crops such as chickpeas and yellow peas, which unfortunately come mainly from faraway countries such as Russia or Argentina. So can't we grow protein crops in Belgium? "Yes, we can!" says ILVO researcher Elien De Rooze. She explains how farmers can grow protein crops and what exactly they should pay attention to!

Cows burp - a lot. Those burps contain methane, a potent greenhouse gas that, like CO2, causes global warming. Can we make cows produce less methane? "Yes, by adjusting their feed," Nico Peiren (ILVO) explains in this video.

For a farmer, a soil brimming with life, such as bacteria, fungi, and other organisms, is important for growing crops. But how do you get such a healthy soil? That's what Koen Willekens (ILVO) digs into in his research.

To reduce the use of antibiotics on farms, we need to prevent animals from becoming sick as much as possible. This involves changing how farmers keep their animals, such as rethinking housing and transportation, adjusting their diet, and allowing young animals to stay with their mothers longer. However, these changes can be difficult for farmers because they might increase costs. Fanny Baudoin, a researcher from ILVO, spoke with farmers and others involved to understand these challenges. She aims to make recommendations on how to overcome these difficulties, helping us decrease the need for antibiotics on farms.

Did you know that laying hens stay on a laying farm until they are 18 months old? "But maybe this could be 4 months longer, provided their health, welfare, and egg quality are still fine," says Karolien Langendries (ILVO). Together with her colleagues, she investigates what support old laying hens need so that they can lay good eggs for longer.

Away with bare boxwood bushes! The infamous boxwood moth went on a rampage in Flanders in recent years 🐛🌳 But don't panic! Meet Japanese holly, a robust alternative that is immune to these voracious caterpillars. The catch? The soil in many Flemish gardens is not acidic enough for this shrub to grow well. Bioengineer Esther Geukens will therefore tinker with the plants and the soil so that Japanese holly can thrive here.

The tobacco whitefly, an exotic fly smaller than a grain of rice, can kill almost any vegetable in a greenhouse. These flies already turned up in greenhouses of vegetable growers in our country, but we don't know how big the problem is. At least, for now. Because Fauve Maertens (ILVO) wants to change that by mapping the spread of the tobacco whitefly.

Have you ever heard of the mysterious "crazy root disease"? Sounds like something you'd rather not have in your garden or greenhouse, right? 🌱 Find out more about this bizarre plant disease and how the VIB and the KU Leuven are determined to get rid of it! 💡✨