1st year report; the Sunniva Project. Sustainable food production through quality optimized raw-material production and processing technologies for premium quality vegetable products and generated by-products

Summary

The SUNNIVA project aims to increase the overall sustainability of vegetable processing by providing valorisation strategies to reduce waste and limiting environmental impact, while improving the nutritional properties of vegetable food products. Results obtained during the first project year indicate that; (i) The waste and by-product fractions of cabbage, tomato and black salsify have a great potential to be better utilized in the food processing chain and to serve as valuable sources for health beneficial phytochemicals (HBPC), and (ii) that tomato and grape seed press cakes have an interesting plant nutritional (NPK) profile, which makes them suitable candidates as raw material in soil amendments. Further, raw materials from tomato and cabbage, in terms of cultivars and morphological parts, has been assessed for HBPC and nutritional value as an effect of N-fertilization and processing. Experimental data for deriving numerical thermal models for agitated and static retort are obtained. Mapping of the most important underutilized vegetable biomass streams in partnering countries are under way. The development of non-destructive tools for rapid HBPC measurements in cabbage and tomato is promising, but some more calibration/validation of the method is necessary. One year into the 3-year project, we conclude that progress has been satisfactory.