Researchers have found a way to grow better blackcurrants using probiotics

FEW FRUITS carry more health-promoting antioxidants than blackcurrants. Widely grown in cooler parts of Europe, they are in high demand from consumers seeking pesticide-free juices made from the berries. Farmers, though, can struggle to boost yields without relying on chemicals. That could change, not just for blackcurrants but other fruit too, with the judicious use of probiotics.Probiotics is mostly known for its use of microorganisms, including certain bacteria, to restore or improve the gut flora in people and animals. But plants can benefit from a collaborative arrangement with bacteria too. Among other things, bacteria help plants produce antibiotics that keep disease-causing microbes off their leaves, support them in collecting nitrogen from the environment and help them dissolve minerals found in the soil.