Progress report for FNC25-1483
Project Information
Walton Sumner, MD, PI, co-owner of Sumner’s Farm LLC, an 80 acre farm with about half in woods, half in hay fields, and experimental soil management plots (~13,000 sq ft), two small greenhouse spaces (8’ x 10’ and 12’ x 20’) and a laboratory (20’ x 20’) with simple tools (dehydrators; analytic scales; Brix, chlorophyll, and pH meters; microscope, grow lights). Dr. Sumner has primary responsibility for organizing all study activities, managing all agricultural aspects of the study including sample collection, performing data analyses, hosting events, and reporting results. Dr. Sumner is also an investor in Kultevat. Dr Sumner has completed two previous SARE FRG grants (FNC19-1195, FNC21-1309) and is in the process of completing a third (FNC23-1396).
Daniel Swiger is the president and CEO of Kultevat, and will provide TKS dandelion seeds, prior data on crop composition, and technical guidance on managing dandelion crops, including soil preparation and harvest timing.
Michele Tan is a scientific advisor at Kultevat, an advocate for women’s health and traditional health methods, and aspires to apply to medical school in 2025 for the class entering in the fall of 2026.
Chung-Ho Lin, PhD, is the lead scientist for the bioremediation, natural products and bioanalytical programs at the Center for Agroforestry at the University of Missouri in Columbia, MO. Dr. Lin will direct analyses of plant tissues to determine latex and fatty acid content, including distinguishing fatty acids with carbon chains ranging from 14 to 18 atoms in length.
Sougata Bardhan, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Natural Resource Management at Lincoln University, a historically black 1890 land grant university in Jefferson City Missouri, and collaborator at the Center for Regenerative Agriculture at the University of Missouri. Dr. Bardhan is trained as a soil microbial ecologist. His current areas of interest include soil health and organic amendments for soil improvement. Dr. Bardhan regularly collaborates with Dr. Sumner and arranges student field trips to Sumner’s Farm LLC. He supervises a NASA-sponsored summer agriculture program for high school students, which usually includes a trip to this farm.
Dietary C15FA reportedly can prevent metabolic syndrome and fatty liver disease in people. In contrast, fatty acids with one more (C16FA) or less (C14FA) carbon atom may cause inflammation. Human C15FA levels in high-altitude blue zones are triple the levels found elsewhere due to C15FA enriched dairy products produced by local ruminants. Other populations have less dietary access to C15FA. Common dandelion pollen is a known low-altitude C15FA source, but C15FA levels in other dandelion parts are not well described.
Taraxacum kok-saghyz (TKS) is a Kazakh (aka Russian) dandelion variety that accumulates latex in roots. Kultevat is engineering and developing this novel row crop as a domestic rubber source. TKS is known to produce some C15FA, but the distribution, quantity, and ratio of C15FA to other FA are not known. If C15FA is relatively abundant in dandelion flowers or leaves, then farmers could harvest these parts for human or dairy feed, potentially increasing population access to dietary C15FA. We propose to quantify C15FA production by TKS, distribution within TKS, and stability under various growing and processing conditions. This is a preliminary step that should be followed by testing in dairy production if results are favorable.
We propose to grow TKS and common dandelions under various greenhouse and field conditions, and analyze fatty acid and latex distribution at relevant harvest times. Greenhouse plants will grow in tall, narrow plastic pots (2” x 2” x 12”) that allow deep taproots.Greenhouse conditions will compare extreme physical, chemical, and biological differences between media. Media will include heavy clay soil, sandy riparian soil, garden soil managed conventionally, garden soil managed regeneratively, Miracle Gro potting mix, and Horticulchar, a biologically very active potting media made on the farm. Each of these 6 media will be tested in triplicate with TKS. Miracle Gro and Horticulchar will be tested in triplicate with common dandelions.
Field plants will grow in ten plots that we have maintained for six years for soil management experiments. These are numbered Ib, Ic through Vb, Vc. The base soil is an alfisol. One pair of plots is no-till with solarization for weed control. The second is similar but with tillage. The third uses a heavily mulched market garden strategy. The fourth uses cover crops and tillage. The fifth uses herbicides for weed control. In each pair of plots, one plot is managed more organically (e.g. heavy application of vermicompost and deficient trace elements, hence balanced) and one plot is managed more conventionally (e.g. following extension service NPK recommendations, hence conventional). We will plant 100 square feet of TKS dandelions in each plot, and 10 square feet of common dandelions in the fourth and fifth pairs of plots.
Independent variables: We will conduct routine chemical soil tests and microbiometer assays on each potting medium and each plot. Microbiometer assays report the level of microbial activity and the division between bacterial and fungal activity.
Dependent variables: We will collect flowers when they emerge, and the remainder of the plant when roots would be harvested for latex. We will collect samples from three plants in each greenhouse and field condition, dry, and quantify the C14FA, C15FA, C16FA, C17FA, C18FA, and latex in roots, leaves, and whole flowers ((10 plots + 6 media) x 3 plants x 3 parts = 144 assays of dried material). From the fourth and fifth pairs of field plots we also will collect and analyze a multi-plant pollen sample from TKS (4 pollen assays); collect, freeze, and analyze leaves and flowers of three plants (24 fresh frozen assays); and collect, ferment, freeze, and analyze leaves and flowers of three plants (24 fermented assays). Plant tops will be fermented with cabbage in a sauerkraut making process. The total number of samples is 196.
Samples will be analyzed by Dr. Lin at the University of Missouri in Columbia, MO. His laboratory will extract and esterify fatty acids, then identify C14-18FA using gas chromatography and mass spectroscopy.
Dr. Sumner will apply a random forest machine learning algorithm (available through Google Colab and in the R statistics program), to identify independent variables and plant parts that predict C15FA levels in tissues. We expect biologically robust growth conditions to predict high levels of C15FA in flowers and pollen.
Objectives
- Identify the TKS and common dandelion parts containing the highest level of C15FA and the highest ratios of (C15FA + C17FA) to (C14FA + C16FA + C18FA)
- Determine the degree to which the chemistry and biology of growing conditions influences C15FA accumulation and odd to even chain fatty acid ratios, ie by ranking variable importance in the random forest model.
- Calculate the minimum quantity of dandelion parts required to deliver 40 mcg of C15FA in a human diet (about twice currently estimated consumption).
- Calculate the C15FA that a dairy ruminant would ingest by eating dandelion tops from 100 square feet of farmland.
Research
TKS dandelion seeds were shipped to Dr. Jillian Silva at the Kultevat laboratory in St. Louis. Dr. Silva advised using 6 plants rather than 3 in laboratory studies, due to phenotypic variation between plants under seemingly identical conditions. The Kultevat laboratory is equipped to assay latex levels but not 14-18 C fatty acids.
On 5/12/2025 TKS dandelion seeds were directly sown in plots Ic (conventional), Ib (balanced organic), IIIc, and IIIb, in 100 square foot (sf) sections in the middle of the 900-1200 sf plots. Plot IIIc was amended with ~1 gallon per row foot of Miracle Grow All-Purpose Garden Soil for in ground use (Product #75030430) on five 50' rows separated by wood chips. Every bag of MGAPGS had a remarkable amount of diverse plastic debris, which was manually removed when noticed. The TKS section of plot Ib and all of plot IIIb were amended with a similar rate of near-finished compost made on site. Compost piles had been build with thin alternating layers of spent coffee grounds and deciduous leaves from a St. Louis suburb, or wood chips when leaves were not in season, and aged at least 6 months before application, and were consistently infested with earthworms. The TKS section of Ic was treated with 1 pound of 10-10-10 fertilizer per 100 sf. None of these 4 plots were tilled. Seeds were distributed densely, lightly covered, and watered.
On 5/16/2025 two groups of deep paper pot transplant chains were vacuum seeded with TKS seeds. The paper pot chains were 44' long with 3 cm deep cells at 2 inch intervals. 12 trays were filled with the farm's Horticulchar Potting Mix (HCPM), and 11 trays with Miracle Grow Potting Mix (MGPM, Product #72781430). Vacuum seeding was not good at singulation, consequently most cells contained multiple seeds. These trays were maintained in greenhouses until the first attempt at transplanting on 5/31. Germination was excellent in both potting mixes.
Herbicides provide weed control in plots Vb and Vc each year. On 5/28 the Vb/c plots were sprayed with a generic glyphosate solution at standard rates. On 5/31 the dandelion sections of plots IIb/c, IVb/c, and Vb/c were manually broken up with a wheel hoe, fertilized with 1# of 10-10-10/100 sf in the conventional plots and 1/2 inch of compost in the balanced plots, troughs were prepared, and the paper pot transplant sled was loaded with dandelion seedling trays and dragged through the troughs to deploy a chain of seedlings which then had 1" leaves. MGPM trays were transplanted into conventional plots, and HCPM trays into balanced organic plots. The sled has difficulty planting rows closer than 8 inches apart, as opposed to the anticipated 4 inches, and consequently only half of the trays were used at first, and the rest returned to greenhouse maintenance. Troughs were manually backfilled as necessary to protect cells from drying, and chains were broken and covered to minimize potential disruption by birds collecting nesting materials.
Although germination in the paper pot trays was good at this point, no dandelion seedlings were evident in the directly seeded plots Ib/c or IIIb/c.
By 6/8 the transplanted dandelions in plots Vb/c had completely failed, and the other transplants were struggling. On 6/12 some of the remaining trays were used to re-transplant plots Vb/c, and leftover chains were planted in IIIb/c, where direct seeding had failed. These TKS dandelions were much more delicate and slow growing than native dandelions, and never crowded out the competing weeds, in spite of repeated manual removal of competing weeds. On 7/1 two of the remaining trays were transplanted into IVb, which usually is the optimal plot in the experimental field, and watered daily, but still died by 7/7.
On 7/8 a set of tall indoor pots was started with MGPM (N=4), HCPM (4), IVb soil (3), IVc soil + 30% bentonite clay (3), Vc soil (3), and sand from the local water feature, Sandy Creek. Each pot is 2"x2"x10", and each was planted with 3 TKS dandelion seeds and maintained in an indoor lab under grow lights. All MGPM and HCPM pots grew dandelions. Only one IVc+clay pot grew a dandelion, which had a distinctly hairy leaf phenotype. Dandelions did not grow in the other pots.
By 10/18/2025 one of the MGPM pots had produced 5 flowers, which were collected and frozen. In January 2026 another MGPM pot produced a crop of flowers which were collected and frozen.
I learned that Creative Proteomics can assay forty samples for 14-18C FA at a price of $231 per sample, or $263 for a full suite of FA. This may be a convenient alternative to the originally planned analysis at the University of Missouri, and I will continue to look for analytic options that will be affordable and timely.
Creative Proteomics
SUITE 115, 17 Ramsey Road, Shirley, NY 11967, USA
Tel: 1-631-509-2930 (USA) Fax: 1-631-614-7828
The first year conclusion is that this strain of TKS dandelions requires indulgent growing conditions, specifically rich soil, consistent and ample water, and minimal competition. The current plan for field-grown TKS dandelions is to essentially sterilize the top layer of soil with hour-long hardwood fires, fertilize with NPK or vermicompost, directly seed rows in March or April, also transplant seedlings into holes in temporary weed-blocking paper covers, and water regularly. We also will replicate the laboratory trial in a greenhouse, which will expose the plants to more natural rather than artificial light.
Whether or not we are able to grow dandelions in any of the field plots, we should be able to assay flowers, leaves, and roots for medium chain fatty acids. The most important question we wanted to answer is whether there is an appreciable amount of pentadecanoic acid in TKS dandelion flowers, and we have flowers, albeit only from two plants grown in commercial potting mix and artificial light.
Educational & Outreach Activities
Participation summary:
I do not yet have results to share.
Learning Outcomes
Kazakh dandelions are delicate. I am still working to improve growth in outdoor field conditions.
Project Outcomes
Kazakh dandelions are much less robust than common dandelions. Studies related to increased hardiness would help farmers grow this crop.