$3.5 million Givaudan gift will protect citrus collection

The University of California, Riverside announced today a $3.5 million donation from Givaudan to support UCR’s Citrus Variety Collection. The gift will help protect one of world’s most extensive citrus diversity collections from the impending threat of citrus greening disease, also known as Huanglongbing, or HLB.

The gift will pay for a 2.8-acre protective screened structure for new trees and back-up collections of the UCR Citrus Variety Collection, established more than 100 years ago. The collection includes two trees of about 1,000 types of citrus, and occupies 22.3 acres on the UCR campus, as well as two smaller, remote sites.

Tracy Kahn holds up a Valentine pummelo, a grapefruit-like citrus hybrid developed at UC Riverside. Photos/ Stan Lim

The collection will be known as the Givaudan Citrus Variety Collection at the University of California, Riverside, for a 10-year period. Givaudan is the world’s leading flavour and fragrance company.

“As global leaders in citrus, protecting citrus biodiversity and creating a sustainable future is a primary focus for Givaudan,” said Louis D’Amico, president of Givaudan’s Flavour Division. “Our long and ongoing partnership with UCR is one of the ways that Givaudan champions biodiversity and sustainability. We are pleased to make this gift and to continue the strong collaboration we have with this outstanding university.”

Announcing the gift in the Variety Collection’s groves on March 14, Givaudan Global Citrus Product Manager Dawn Streich alluded to the urgency posed by HLB.

“A significant part of our latest gift to UCR will protect the collection from greening– today’s main challenge to citrus,” Streich said.

Citrus Greening disease, also known as Huanglongbing, is caused by a bacterium that is transmitted by the Asian Citrus Psyllid. The bacterium affects the way in which nutrients are transferred from root to tree, and once infected, the tree yield will be lower, fruit appearance and flavor affected, with the disease ultimately killing the tree.

Prevalent in Florida, Brazil, and Mexico, the disease is a global issue and has been detected in every major citrus growing region.

Citrus Variety Collection curator Tracy Kahn said the recent discovery of HLB in Riverside, 2.25 miles from

Dean Uhrich — Kathryn Uhrich, dean of the College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, was among speakers at the March 14 gift announcement.

UCR’s Citrus Variety Collection “crystalized the need for further protection.”

“Working with partners like Givaudan enables us to protect our collection while working on solutions which can help commercial citrus growers,” Kahn said. “This announcement further cements our long-term collaboration with Givaudan, focusing attention on the preservation of the citrus variety collection. This latest gift will help ensure that the collection is well protected.”

Givaudan’s officials say its partnership with UCR, which began in 2006, has led to discovery of new citrus ingredients and flavours.

“This partnership gives us access to rare varietals, which combined with our creative approach to citrus, delivers unique insight for our customers– inspiring consumer preferred products around the globe,” Streich said.

In 2011, A Givaudan gift created the Givaudan Citrus Variety Collection Endowed Chair to support and maintain UCR’s Citrus Variety Collection. In addition to building the screenhouse, the gift announced today will add to the endowment, assuring support of the collection in perpetuity.