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A CIRCULAR ECONOMY APROACH FOR THE VALORIZATION OF ORANGE PEEL WASTE TO ESTABLISH FOOD SAFETY

Project description

A new solution for food safety and waste management

Food safety and food waste management are intertwined challenges that impact the economy, environment, and public health. Annually, Europe reports 23 million cases of foodborne illness and 5 000 related deaths. Simultaneously, one-third of food produced, about 1.3 billion tonnes, is wasted. Supported by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) programme, the WASTEtoSAFETY project aims to tackle these issues by developing a circular economy approach. It focuses on revalorising citrus industry waste to extend the shelf life of Mediterranean fresh produce. Using microwave and ultrasound techniques, essential oils from orange peels will be extracted and used in food preservation technologies. This innovative project also evaluates food chain impacts, offering significant advancements in Food Science.

Objective

Food safety and food waste management remain two major challenges in Europe, with enormous effects on the economy, the environment and public health. Each year 23 million cases of foodborne illness and 5000 deaths are reported in Europe. At the same time, one third of food produced for human consumption is wasted because it is considered unfit for consumption, which amounts to approximately 1.3 billion tons each year. Therefore, the development of innovative measures to reduce food waste presents a viable alternative in a situation where new solutions are desperately required. In this sense, the development of circular economies that revalorize byproducts and residues of food industries as products that can be reused is a promising research avenue.
WASTEtoSAFETY will confront this challenge by developing the scientific basis to implement a circular economy that uses waste from the citrus industry to extend the shelf life of fresh produce from the Mediterranean area. Namely, it will optimize two “green” methods (microwave & ultrasound) for the extraction of essential oils (EO) from orange peel. The EO will be used as the basis for two food preservation technologies: a washing solution and an active packaging. The project will also evaluate their potential impact on the food chain, through a quantitative microbiological risk assessment (QMRA), a Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) combined with a Material Flow Analysis. WASTEtoSAFETY will thus provide tangible advances to the field of Food Science, developing a noticeable solution for the revalorization and utilization of citrus waste. It will also open new research avenues related to the upscaling of these technologies to an industrial level.

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Keywords

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Programme(s)

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Topic(s)

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Funding Scheme

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HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships

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Call for proposal

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(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2023-PF-01

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Coordinator

UNIVERSIDAD POLITECNICA DE CARTAGENA
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 165 312,96
Address
PLAZA DEL CRONISTA ISIDORO VALVERDE EDIFICIO LA MILAGROSA
30202 CARTAGENA
Spain

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Region
Sur Región de Murcia Murcia
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
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Total cost

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