Periodic Reporting for period 1 - ImproVITA (Improve the shelf life of perishable goods through stabilization of vitamins)
Période du rapport: 2023-12-01 au 2025-05-31
Food processing industries face great pressure to increase the shelf life of goods decreasing the tons of waste generated every year. At the same time consumers are becoming more conscious about their choices and more critical about the use of synthetic preservatives. The most common group of chemical compounds used to preserve the freshness of food are vitamins, also known as antioxidants. Antioxidants are compounds capable to inhibit oxidation which is a chemical reaction that leads to the production of free radicals, involving the possible damage the cells. Antioxidants, such as vitamins (vitamin C - ascorbic acid or vitamin E - tocopherol) end these chain reactions. For that reason, many food supplements and cosmetics are constituted by these vitamins. To prevent their early degradation is of maximum interest and it is the objective of this project to disclose the use of deep eutectic systems (DES) to increase the shelf-time of these compounds. DES are mixtures of two solid species that at particular molar ratio form a new compound with different properties. The team has demonstrated already that the use of this technology enhances the anti-oxidant activity up to 5 days, and prevents fruit oxidation up to 48 hours, contrarily to what happens with conventional methods which only prevent food oxidation up a couple of hours. Within this proof of concept the team intends to validate the product in terms of its technical features but also validate the market and evaluate the commercial potential of our solution.
The ERC PoC focused on the exploitation of the technical viability of ImproVITA in order to leverage the TRL level of the technology towards TRL 5, validation in relevant environment. To achieve this, several contacts with industrial partners were done and three main collaboration protocols were established.
Company A is the global market leader for fresh strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and blackberries. It has 100 years of farming heritage and hundreds of independent growers around the world.
Company A has tested ImproVITA at their facilities in two different assays, one in the final period of the harvest season and one in the peak of the harvest season. Experiments were carried out in ready to ship raspberry cuvettes and in the plant, 24 and 48h before harvesting. The assessment of the shelf life was performed exactly as it is regularly performed by the company and it was clear the extension of the shelf life when ImproVITA is applied. The applications in ready to ship cuvettes, however, may have some drawbacks as it increases the preparation time, decreasing the productivity of the farmers. The team has hence suggested the pulverization of ImproVITA in the plant, just before harvest to evaluate if the shelf life extension would be similar. Results demonstrate that the applications of ImproVITA 24h before harvesting is detrimental for the fruit, while the application 48h before present similar results as the samples with no treatment.
Company B is an Organization of Small fruit production (raspberries, strawberries and blueberries), located Portugal, with productions filed in different sites.
ImproVITA was tested at the end of the harvest season, and equivalent tests as the ones described for Company A were performed. The results suggest that the applications of ImproVITA 48h before harvesting the fruits is beneficial to the enhancement of the properties of the raspberries, increasing their shelf life to up to 15 days, and delaying the appearance of fungi.
Anit-microbial and anti-fungal activity of ImproVITA was tested for different strains, however, the most relevant is the activity towards Botritis cinérea, which is the one that most affects these plants/fruits. Despite the fact that ImproVITA only demonstrated up to 12% anti-fungal activity, this may explain the results observed in the pilot test carried out at Company B.
Company C is a IV range product company dedicated mostly to vegetables. The company comes from three farmer owned cooperatives aims to make fresh vegetables more accessible, presenting them in practical formats that make people’s lives easier. Company C team continues to pursue, innovating and offering an ever-increasing variety of fresh, healthy and tasty products to help people have a better diet. In this sense, Company C was very open to our solution and we have carried out tests in two different samples: spinaches and iceberg lettuce. Experiments carried out with spinach leaves demonstrated a clear extension of the shelf life compared with control samples. Improvita was impressive at day 25. Leaves kept their consistency, no brown showed up. Control was dull and lacking brightness, yellowish and brownish. In the case of iceberg lettuce the results were not as expected and ImproVITA did not offer any advantages. Company C, has showed high interest in testing our product for further licensing but it will depend on the response to the following critical points: 1 – The application of ImproVITA should easily adapt to the process used at the producers facility; 2 – Evaluate the legislation applied to the use of ImproVITA as preservative for IV range products, which is directly related to the assessment of labelling and packaging which, might have to be adapted.
Company A is the global market leader for fresh strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and blackberries. It has 100 years of farming heritage and hundreds of independent growers around the world.
Company A has tested ImproVITA at their facilities in two different assays, one in the final period of the harvest season and one in the peak of the harvest season. Experiments were carried out in ready to ship raspberry cuvettes and in the plant, 24 and 48h before harvesting. The assessment of the shelf life was performed exactly as it is regularly performed by the company and it was clear the extension of the shelf life when ImproVITA is applied. The applications in ready to ship cuvettes, however, may have some drawbacks as it increases the preparation time, decreasing the productivity of the farmers. The team has hence suggested the pulverization of ImproVITA in the plant, just before harvest to evaluate if the shelf life extension would be similar. Results demonstrate that the applications of ImproVITA 24h before harvesting is detrimental for the fruit, while the application 48h before present similar results as the samples with no treatment.
Company B is an Organization of Small fruit production (raspberries, strawberries and blueberries), located Portugal, with productions filed in different sites.
ImproVITA was tested at the end of the harvest season, and equivalent tests as the ones described for Company A were performed. The results suggest that the applications of ImproVITA 48h before harvesting the fruits is beneficial to the enhancement of the properties of the raspberries, increasing their shelf life to up to 15 days, and delaying the appearance of fungi.
Anit-microbial and anti-fungal activity of ImproVITA was tested for different strains, however, the most relevant is the activity towards Botritis cinérea, which is the one that most affects these plants/fruits. Despite the fact that ImproVITA only demonstrated up to 12% anti-fungal activity, this may explain the results observed in the pilot test carried out at Company B.
Company C is a IV range product company dedicated mostly to vegetables. The company comes from three farmer owned cooperatives aims to make fresh vegetables more accessible, presenting them in practical formats that make people’s lives easier. Company C team continues to pursue, innovating and offering an ever-increasing variety of fresh, healthy and tasty products to help people have a better diet. In this sense, Company C was very open to our solution and we have carried out tests in two different samples: spinaches and iceberg lettuce. Experiments carried out with spinach leaves demonstrated a clear extension of the shelf life compared with control samples. Improvita was impressive at day 25. Leaves kept their consistency, no brown showed up. Control was dull and lacking brightness, yellowish and brownish. In the case of iceberg lettuce the results were not as expected and ImproVITA did not offer any advantages. Company C, has showed high interest in testing our product for further licensing but it will depend on the response to the following critical points: 1 – The application of ImproVITA should easily adapt to the process used at the producers facility; 2 – Evaluate the legislation applied to the use of ImproVITA as preservative for IV range products, which is directly related to the assessment of labelling and packaging which, might have to be adapted.
The results of ImproVITA demonstrate that the use of DES in the preservation of raspberry has advantages in extending the shelf life of the product, and hence the technical viability of the product was successfully proven. However, this industry has very low margins, therefore, extra costs with production might impair the adoption of ImproVITA. Our experience with Company A and Company B is very different and while Company A is reluctant to adopt our product due to the associated costs, and what their perceive as incremental enhancement over their current product. On the other hand, Company B t is very open to the adoption of ImproVITA and new tests are ongoing. Furthermore, it is their intention to investigate the possibility to use the technology on other fruits such as blueberries and blackberries.
In the case of IV range vegetables it is essential to assess the regulatory aspects of adding a food preservative to a ready to eat product. While the results show the technical feasibility and superiorness of ImproVITA in spinach leaves, a study carried out at the industrial facilities is still requested in order to evaluate the ability to use ImproVITA in the current production site.
In order to ensure further uptake by the market, further research in different products should be pursued. Additionally, an in depth market research should be carried out with the various market segments. In parallel, the scaling-up and regulatory aspects related to the commercialization of ImproVITA as food preservative should be assessed.
In the case of IV range vegetables it is essential to assess the regulatory aspects of adding a food preservative to a ready to eat product. While the results show the technical feasibility and superiorness of ImproVITA in spinach leaves, a study carried out at the industrial facilities is still requested in order to evaluate the ability to use ImproVITA in the current production site.
In order to ensure further uptake by the market, further research in different products should be pursued. Additionally, an in depth market research should be carried out with the various market segments. In parallel, the scaling-up and regulatory aspects related to the commercialization of ImproVITA as food preservative should be assessed.