Sustainability in the Food Chain * Sustainability in the Food Chain * Institute of Food Research: Exploitation Platform

About the NOVELQ project

  • Project Sponsor: Integrated Project funded by the European Commission under the Sixth Framework Programme, priority Food Quality and Safety.
  • Contract Number: FOOD-CT-2005-015710
  • Project Title: Novel Processing Methods for the Production and Distribution of High-Quality and Safe Foods

Purpose and significance of the project

The Sustainability in the Food Chain Exploitation Platform is participating, along with other IFR scientists, in NovelQ, a €10.9 million FP6 Integrated Project launched in 2006, which brings together 30 partners and a 40-member Industry Advisory Platform of leading multinationals and SMEs to formulate strategic solutions for technical and basic research hurdles in order to develop and successfully demonstrate novel processing schemes for plant-based foods.  Novel processing technologies include high pressure processing, pulsed electric field, gas plasma and advanced heating technologies.

The anticipated benefits include extending shelf life responding to the demands of consumers for foods with fresh characteristics and which contribute to individual health and wellbeing and optimising eco-friendly innovative processing.

SFC Exploitation Platform members are contributing to a number of NovelQ targets as follows:

  • Influence of novel processing on texture
    We are involved in studies into the effect of processing on the role of exogenous enzymes to maintain or improve the texture of tomatoes. In initial studies, unripe and ripe tomatoes, in which polygalacturonase activity is absent and present, respectively, have been subjected to high pressure treatment and the effects on water distribution and cell disruption/separation examined by NMR and optical microscopy. Recent work has been focussed on carrot as an example of a hard tissue.

Use of coriphosphine stain to selectively stain pectin in carrot tissue results in much improved images which enable solubilised pectin to be visualised located within the voids between the damaged cell walls

Picture: Use of coriphosphine stain to selectively stain pectin in carrot tissue results in much improved images which enable solubilised pectin to be visualised located within the voids between the damaged cell walls. (Dr. Mary Parker)
  • Optimising the environmental efficiency of novel processing
    Working with SIK, Sweden, we aim to minimise and upgrade waste streams from novel tomato processing technologies and identify solutions that minimise water and energy usage. The team is also involved in assessing and comparing the environmental impacts of novel processing and conventional processing systems, and in identifying opportunities to utilise wastes.  The team, working with SIK, has completed life cycle assessments (LCA) looking at conventional and novel processing of food products using tomato salsa, carrot juice and strawberry jam as examples. 

 

 

Project Publications

Davis J., Moates G.K. & Waldron K.W., 2009. High pressure processing - a step in the right direction towards sustainable food processing? Food Safety Magazine 15 12-15.

Davis J., Moates G. & Waldron K., 2010. Environmental analysis of PEF and HP - A case study with pasteurized carrot juice. In: C. Doona, K. Kustin & F. Feeherry (eds.), Case Studies in Novel Food Processing Technologies: Innovations in processing, packaging, and predictive modelling, Woodhead Publishing, Cambridge, pp 103-115.

Furfaro M. E., Marigheto N., Moates G. K., Cross K., Parker M. L., Waldron K. W. & Hills B. P., 2009. A multidimensional NMR cross-correlation relaxation study of carrot phloem and xylem. Part I. Peak assignment. Applied Magnetic Resonance 35 521-535.

Furfaro M. E., Marigheto N., Moates G. K., Cross K., Parker M. L., Waldron K. W. & Hills B. P., 2009. A multidimensional NMR cross-correlation relaxation study of carrot. Part II. Thermal and high-pressure processing. Applied Magnetic Resonance 35 537-547.

Landfeld A., Matser A., Strohalm J., Oey I., Van Der Plancken I., Grauwet T., Hendrickx M., Moates G., Furfaro M. E., Waldron K. W., Betz M., Halama R., Houska M., 2011. Can we qualitatively gain the same time-temperature history using different pilot HP units? Innovative Food Science and Emerging Technologies, 12, 226-234.

Marigheto N., Moates G. K., Furfaro M.E., Waldron K. W. & Hills B. P., 2009. Characterisation of ripening and pressure-induced changes in tomato pericarp using NMR relaxometry. Applied Magnetic Resonance 36 35-47.

Sila D. N., Duvetter T., De Roeck A., Verlent I., Smout C., Moates G. K. , Hills B. P., Waldron K. W., Hendrickx M. & Van Loey A. , 2008.  Texture changes of processed fruits and vegetables: Potential use of high-pressure processing.  Trends in Food Science & Technology 19 309-319.

Who to contact for further information:

Professor Keith Waldron
Institute of Food Research
Norwich Research Park
Colney
Norwich
NR4 7UA
UK
Phone: +44 (0) 1603 255000
Fax: +44 (0) 1603 507723

E-mail: keith.waldron@ifr.ac.uk

 

Sustainability in the Food Chain Exploitation Platform Copyright Institute of Food Research Institute of Food Research