Descripción del proyecto
Una nueva solución para la seguridad alimentaria y la gestión de residuos
La seguridad alimentaria y la gestión de los residuos alimentarios son retos interrelacionados que repercuten en la economía, el medio ambiente y la salud pública. Anualmente, Europa registra 23 millones de casos de enfermedades transmitidas por los alimentos y 5 000 muertes relacionadas. A su vez, un tercio de los alimentos producidos, unos 1 300 millones de toneladas, se desperdicia. Con el apoyo de las acciones Marie Skłodowska-Curie, el equipo del proyecto WASTEtoSAFETY pretende abordar estos problemas desarrollando un método de economía circular. Se centra en la revalorización de los residuos de la industria citrícola para prolongar la vida útil de los productos frescos mediterráneos. Mediante técnicas de microondas y ultrasonidos, se extraerán los aceites esenciales de las cáscaras de naranja y se utilizarán en tecnologías de conservación de alimentos. Este innovador proyecto también evalúa las repercusiones en la cadena alimentaria, ofreciendo avances significativos en el ámbito de la ciencia de los alimentos.
Objetivo
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.
Ámbito científico
- medical and health scienceshealth sciencespublic health
- engineering and technologyenvironmental engineeringwaste management
- engineering and technologyother engineering and technologiesfood technologyfood safety
- social scienceseconomics and businesseconomicssustainable economy
- natural sciencesphysical sciencesacousticsultrasound
Palabras clave
Programa(s)
- HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Main Programme
Régimen de financiación
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European FellowshipsCoordinador
30202 Cartagena
España