HortResearch partners in €21.1m EU research programme
Auckland, New Zealand, 8 May 2006 – New Zealand is partnering in a multi-million dollar project aimed at improving health by increasing consumption of fruit and vegetables. Fruit science company HortResearch announced today that it will join with Europe’s top research organisations in the ISAFRUIT programme, which brings together over 60 research partners from 14 EU countries. HortResearch is one of only two bodies outside the European Union to receive full partnership status. The other is UC Davis in the United States. ISAFRUIT is short for “Increasing fruit consumption through a trans-disciplinary approach delivering high quality produce from environmentally friendly, sustainable production methods.” It is centred on the premise that better fruit quality and availability, more convenient fruit and fruit products, as well as improved customer awareness, will lead to higher levels of fruit consumption and, in turn, to increased health and wellbeing in the European population. ISAFRUIT has identified bottlenecks throughout the fruit supply chain which reduce fruit consumption. The programme will address and resolve these through consumer-driven preferences, following a “fork-to-farm” approach. The large amount of funding ISAFRUIT has attracted, including €13.8m from the EU Commission reflects how seriously the EU takes the link between fruit and health, and its growing alarm at stagnant fresh produce consumption rates in some member countries. HortResearch Chief Executive Paul McGilvary said the company was invited to take part in ISAFRUIT because of its international reputation for all-round excellence in fruit research, and increasing skill in identifying interactions between fruit and human health and wellbeing. “ISAFRUIT’s focus on the links between fruit, nutrition, human health and sustainability represents a perfect match with HortResearch’s own science and commercial goals. Joining ISAFRUIT is also a natural extension of our relationships with European research organisations,” he said. HortResearch has active research relationships with a number of EU organisations in countries such as France, Italy, the United Kingdom, Spain, Germany and the Netherlands. The company’s official European representative, Jill Stanley, is based at IRTA in Barcelona. Ms Stanley said HortResearch’s initial involvement in ISAFRUIT will be to provide data on various elements of fruit texture. ”Crispness, hardness and juiciness are all key aspects in the overall consumer experience of fruit. When these and other attributes are present in the right balance then eating fruit is a real pleasure. We want to understand the physiology behind these attributes so we can pass that information on to breeders, enabling them to target fruits that will be popular with consumers.” Scientists at HortResearch’s consumer and sensory science facility in Auckland will begin their ISAFRUIT work by developing instrumental tests to accurately assess fruit texture. “If we want to breed fruit with these characteristics then we must first be able to measure them. People can tell you if fruit is juicy, firm or soft, but they cannot do so consistently when large numbers of samples need to be assessed, so we need to develop instruments that can.” Ms Stanley said that once measurement techniques are available, HortResearch will begin investigating fruit to determine the molecular structures than convey key attributes. “We’ll be looking to tell breeders what they should be looking for at the molecular level, helping them to select the best plants for their breeding programmes.” HortResearch’s data and techniques will eventually help bring tasty fruit to consumers all over the world, and there will also be great benefits for the company’s ongoing fruit science programme. “Being a full partner in ISAFRUIT allows us to contribute to the great wealth of information generated by the programme, and just as our research will be available to others, so we too will be able to benefit from sharing their knowledge,” said Mr McGilvary.
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