ALLFRUIT4ALL - INNOVATIVE FRUIT-BASED PRODUCTS TO INCREASE FRUIT CONSUMPTION, PROMOTE HEALTH AND REDUCE FOOD WASTE

PID2019-104269RR-C33

To obtain high quality products and achieve a competitive advantage, producers demand better raw materials, improved manufacturing processes and optimal storage conditions. The interest is greater when sensory properties add significant value to the product. This is the case for fresh fruit or processed fruit products. On the other hand, there is growing concern about the low consumption of fruit in a fruit producer country such as Spain.

Lifestyle changes aside, the decline in fruit consumption is also attributed to "loss of taste" or "no taste". This occurs because fruit is a perishable product and the tendency of farmers is to harvest it unripe so that the fruit can reach the consumer in a healthy state, but at the cost of losing its characteristic flavour and aroma. Bringing to market fruit with a better taste and optimum ripeness for consumption could reverse this situation.

However, improving chemical and sensory properties and maintaining them over longer storage times requires a deeper understanding and control of the production process. From an analytical point of view, this can be achieved using the Process Analytical Technologies (PAT) approach: a system to design, analyse and control manufacturing through time-based measurements of critical quality attributes of raw materials and processes, with the aim of ensuring the quality of the final product. Considering the continuous improvement of instrumental analytical techniques, the potential impact of PAT in the fruit sector is huge, regarding to product quality and safety, process and resource efficiency, yields and, consequently, competitiveness.

Following this trend, this project develops analytical tools, based on infrared spectroscopy and mass spectrometry, to monitor key parameters (physicochemical and sensory) of fresh peaches and grapes, fresh cut fruit, juices/wines and snacks.

The two main objetives of the project are:

Quality control is ensure in:

The obtained data will be processed with chemometric tools and correlated with quality parameters.

The instrumentation used in this project is expensive and therefore unaffordable for many small producers. In order to provide companies with a quick but cheaper methodology to control product quality, the developed models will be transferred to low-cost portable instruments that have appeared on the market in recent years. In this way, the project could contribute to sustainable local development and job opportunities.

Finally, as the PAT philosophy is an interdisciplinary approach, involving analytical chemists, food engineers or instrument developers, this project will allow us to build a national and international network of researchers in these disciplines, enabling us to join the forefront of R&D&I in our sector/market.