COLDμWAVE project carried out under the aegis of Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions which aim to support the career development and training of researchers with a focus on innovation skills in science through international and intersector mobility. COLDµWAVE project aimed to improve the research skills of Epameinondas Xanthakis through the development of an innovative environmentally sustainable process for blanching and freezing vegetables with improved textural and nutritional quality at SP Technical Research Institute of Sweden.
This study involved the use of MW electromagnetic irradiation (MW) for blanching and subsequently the innovative MW assisted freezing of vegetables. During the implementation of COLDµWAVE project a tailored equipment for MW blanching of vegetables that has high energy efficiency and no water consumption compared to the conventional blanching methods has been developed. Furthermore, this project also developed innovative pathways in freezing to improve the quality of frozen vegetables by exploring, in a new context, previous results acquired by the fellow. The starting point of “COLDµWAVE” was the need to develop and industrially implement sustainable and innovative processes for the production of attractive, tasty, and high-quality frozen fruit and vegetable products. Several technologies and treatments have been developed over the past centuries to extend the shelf-life and transform these perishable vegetables into safe, stable and tasty products. However, for many of these processes the maintenance of the quality characteristics remains a challenging aspect, as they can significantly influence the colour, texture, flavour, and nutritional value of the vegetables. From a sustainability point of view, technologies currently used for the processing of fruits and vegetables consume considerable amounts of energy and water, and produce organic waste due to the leaching of solids.
During the 2 years duration and with the support of the MSCA-IF grant the fellow had the opportunity to gain valuable multidisciplinary experience and new theoretical and practical skills in the areas of heat transfer modelling, food nutrition and quality measurements. The fellow further investigated innovative processes having industrial importance and finally became a real specialist in the MW assisted food blanching and freezing. Therefore, COLDμWAVE project offered the tools and contributed to the career development and integration of the fellow and fulfilled the aim of the MSCA-IF grant.
