Dr. Eirini Sarrou is Senior Researcher of the Institute of Plant Breeding & Genetic Resources (IPGRB) of the Hellenic Agricultural Organization Demetra. She obtained her PhD in 2013 from the Faculty of Agriculture (Department of Pomology) in Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and since 2017 she has been an independent researcher at the IPGRB ELGO DIMITRA. She has experience in the evaluation of parameters that affect the secondary metabolism of plant species with an emphasis on aromatic and medicinal plants, etc. Her scientific interests are focused on: a) the determination of polyphenols (phenolic acids, flavonoids and anthocyanins) and volatile compounds in complex plant extracts using modern metabolomics methodologies (UPLC-MS/MS, HPLC-DAD/MS, GC-MS) as tools for quantitative/qualitative characters assessment, quality assurance and plant breeding, and b) their combination with functional genomics (transcriptomics) to identify and characterize functional genes of interest for medicinal plants breeding. She has funded and completed as principal investigator two postdoctoral research projects, and has participated and coordinated National and European projects. She has carried out a sabbatical training at the Fondazione Edmund Mach Research Foundation in the subject of Plant Genome Editing with CRISPR-CAS9 technology as a tool for gene silencing of flavonoid production in plants. She has published 45 articles in SCI Journals (h-index 23).

• Plant breeding and genetics
• Plant biotic/abiotic stress
• Natural products biotechnology
• Flavonoid biosynthesis
• Functional compounds from MAPs

• SEESOC: Holistic approach to the field assessment of endemic and endangered species Saponaria aenesia and Saponaria jagelii, and ex situ conservation, OFYPEKA-HFRI
• NanoCosmos: Nanoencapsulation of bioactive compounds from plant by products to produce sensitive skin cosmetics, H2020 MSCA RISE Call 2022
• INNODRY: Strengthening the competitiveness of traditional and new plant products for their entrance into international markets, utilizing innovative drying techniques
• ANTIOXCERT: Pilot application of the “ANTIOXCERT” standard in main agri-food products.
• BreedOreg: Genetic improvement and development of varieties of Greek oregano (Origanum vulgare ssp. hirtum), Ministry of Rural Development

• Sarrou, E., Tsivelika, N., Martens, S., Irakli, M., Bletsaki, F., Broufa, S., … & Abraham, E. M. (2024). First steps towards pre-breeding of Sideritis scardica: a phenotypic, agronomic, and phytochemical profiling approach. Agronomy, 14(7).
• Martinidou, E., Michailidis, M., Ziogas, V., Masuero, D., Angeli, A., Moysiadis, T., … & Sarrou, (2024). Comparative Evaluation of Secondary Metabolite Chemodiversity of Citrus Genebank Collection in Greece: Can the Peel be More than Waste?. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 72(16), 9019-9032.
• Sarrou, , Martinidou, E., Palmieri, L., Poulopoulou, I., Trikka, F., Masuero, D., … & Martens, S. (2023). High throughput pre-breeding evaluation of Greek oregano (Origanum vulgare L. subsp. hirtum) reveals multi-purpose genotypes for different industrial uses. Journal of Applied Research on Medicinal and Aromatic Plants, 37, 100516.
• Sarropoulou, V., Sarrou, E., Maloupa, E., & Grigoriadou, K. (2023). Abiotic elicitation of Primula veris subsp. veris in vitro towards the production of antioxidants and saponins in adventitious roots biomass. Plant Cell, Tissue and Organ Culture (PCTOC), 155(3), 827-842.
• Aničić, N., Patelou, E., Papanikolaou, A., Kanioura, A., Valdesturli, C., Arapitsas, P., Sarrou, E., Martens, S., & Kanellis, A. (2021). Comparative metabolite and gene expression analyses in combination with gene characterization revealed the patterns of flavonoid accumulation during Cistus creticus subsp. creticus fruit development. Frontiers in Plant Science, 12, 619634.