FRESH-DEMO PROJECT MID-TERM MEETING IN MALAGA

Bioazul organized the Mid-term meeting of FRESH-DEMO (“Waste reduction and quality improvement of fruits and vegetables via an innovative and energy-efficient humidification/disinfection technology”). All the Project beneficiaries met in Málaga on 23^rd and 24^th of February 2016.

FRESH-DEMO is an innovation action that aims to assess and demonstrate the value of an energy-efficient humidification/disinfection technology to cope the high amount of waste generated along the distribution chain, by extending the shelf life and hygienic properties of fruit and vegetables.

During the meeting, the partners discussed on the progress and achievements from the 1^st year, the major topics of the meeting were:

• The characterization of the end-user requirements regarding humidification – acidification systems for fruit & vegetable.
• The selection of natural acidifier and the Integration with the ultrasonic humidification Technology to treat fruit & vegetable.
• The accordingly developed of the technical design as well as the up-scaling and the construction of the prototypes.
• The implementation of 3 main case studies under real conditions along the complete supply chain of selected fruit & vegetable.

Regarding the demonstration cases, BIOAZUL presented the first trials with strawberries developed in its facilities.

The implementation of the trials will be made with a FRESH-DEMO van conditioned with a humidification – acidification systems. It will trace the conventional transport from the producers to the retailers to be able to compare directly the waste reduction and quality improvement of selected fruit & vegetables via the FRESH-DEMO Technology. All the partners could see the van which returned to the first test transport with treated strawberries from Huelva.

Thereby, the FRESH-DEMO project will evaluate the benefits of this technology, together with a natural acidifier to preserve and enhance the quality and freshness of fruit and vegetables along the entire post-harvest supply chain. The market potential of this technology will be demonstrated by this research through different real case studies. The project team will analyse the ecological, technological and economic benefits and also conduct in-depth market research.