Vienna (OTS) – In the project “Poisonous Plant Sniffer – Dogs on the Hunt for Hidden Danger in Fields” at BOKU University, the ability of sniffer dogs to detect poisonous plants in special agricultural crops is being tested.
Detection dogs are characterized by their impressive ability to identify drugs, explosives and even diseases. This special feature is used in a new and innovative application: dogs that are specially trained can quickly and reliably locate dangerous or invasive plants. This is extremely important because toxic plants pose serious threats to the health of humans and animals.
Use in agricultural herb and spice fields
In the “Poisonous Plant Sniffers” project at the Institute of Plant Protection at BOKU, scientists use the dogs to search for native and invasive poisonous plants that contain so-called pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs) in agricultural herb and spice fields. PAs are secondary plant ingredients that are formed to protect against predators. Even extremely low levels of contamination with PA poisonous plants can lead to herbs or spices no longer being allowed to be sold in the EU, as regular consumption of PAs is carcinogenic even in relatively small amounts and damages the liver in higher doses. “The poison accumulates in the liver and leads to liver damage. That is why the EU has set strict limits for a number of products in 2022,” explains project leader Silvia Winter. In contrast, there are no limits in America, for example.
In Austria, in addition to the native PA poisonous plants, such as the common ragwort (Senecio vulgaris), including invasive species such as spring ragwort (S. vernalis) or narrow-leaved ragwort (S. inequidens), which were introduced from Eastern Europe or South Africa.
Training and field tests of the sniffer dogs
In the first step of the project, experienced search dogs from the Nature Conservation Dogs Association will be trained to search for these poisonous plants using fresh and dried plant material in various stages of development. “At the same time, we are analyzing the volatile organic compounds in these samples to understand how the content and composition of essential oils influence the success of the search,” says Winter. In the second year of the project, real searches will be carried out on different herb and spice cultivation areas to find out whether the dogs are more efficient at searching for the ragwort species than human experts. The aim is also to investigate which environmental factors have the greatest influence on the search success of dogs and humans.
The use of sniffer dogs is a particularly innovative approach to detecting potentially poisonous plants as early as possible, because dogs should also be able to reliably detect young plants that are not flowering. Young plants are less easy for humans to detect, especially if they do not yet produce flowers in the spring, such as narrow-leaved ragwort. In a large field, these poisonous plants can easily be overlooked. “Our project shows how animal skills can be combined with the latest technology to ensure food security in agriculture. This will hopefully reduce the amount of work and the use of weed control measures,” says Winter confidently.
Photo: https://bokubox.boku.ac.at/#bc4fdd44180a61a77df60fbed1093402
© BOKU Media Office/ Peter Zeschtiz
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