Research results from the University of Copenhagen reveal this not to be the case. These so-called bladder cells serve a completely different though important function. The finding makes it likely that even more resilient quinoa plants will now be able to be bred, which could lead to the much wider cultivation of this sustainable crop worldwide. The findings are published in the journal Current Biology.

Looking through a microscope, it resembles a water balloon. Or a piece of glass art. But it's just a so-called bladder cell. If you wondered what it was for, you wouldn't be the first. For 127 years, even the brightest minds in plant biology believed that the fluid-filled bladders covering the leaves, clustered flowers and stems of a range of hardy plants were something completely different from what they now turn out to be.

The discovery was made thanks to a new piece of research from the University of Copenhagen that completely contradicted the researchers' expectations. The new insight can probably be used to expand the cultivation of a particularly nutritious and climate-resilient crop.

"Quinoa has been touted as a future-proof crop because it is rich in proteins and highly tolerant of drought and salt, and thus climate change. Scientists believed that the secret to quinoa's tolerance was in the many epidermal bladder cells on the surface of the plant. Until now, it was assumed that they served as a kind of salt dump and to store water. But they don't, and we have strong evidence for it," says Professor Michael Palmgren from the Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences.