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SUNNIVA addressed the entire food supply chain for tomatoes, Brassica and their derived products. The work packages focussed on sustainability by using high-throughput non-destructive optical tools to optimize harvest time and determine the effects of elicitor treatments during pre-processing storage (WP1); effect of subsequent innovative processing on the health beneficial compounds (WP2); mathematical modelling of the oscillated convection of an innovative shaking retort system (WP3); developing bio-refinery process schemes for several vegetable by-products and applying pilot-scale tests with innovative pressing technologies (WP4) and evaluation of vegetable waste fractions for their potential to be included in organic fertilizers or soil amendments (WP5). The results demonstrated that non-destructive optical tools for monitoring specific phytochemicals in tomato and Brassica could replace expensive destructive analyses allowing rapid decisions on harvest time and how to best utilize vegetable raw material or waste fractions. Rational designs of cabbage and/or tomato containing foods were applied to exploit biological activity of phytochemicals where vegetables were microwave-processed and applied in commercial meat production lines to obtain pâtés and sausages with improved health quality. Experimental validation of the CFD model was completed and optimal shaking rate for low viscosity cases was determined, followed by determining viscosity effects and shaking rate of oscillated retort systems. Intensive mixing and significant effect of viscosity changes were demonstrated to determine optimum processing conditions to improve quality and enable energy savings. Vegetable by-products represented interesting feedstock with opportunities to recycle into the food chain. Product development focussed on juice and puree products. Further research will focus on the use of press cakes in food applications. Nutrient and phytochemical content of dried vegetable waste fractions were characterized and the effect on plant growth was tested for the most promising fractions. A cost-effective drying method remains a bottleneck for application and will be investigated further.

Industrial processing of fruit and vegetables can have detrimental effects on health-promoting phytochemicals. Here, a novel pilot-scale process using an innovative spiral-filter press followed by a thermal treatment was evaluated for the production of tomato juice. Three-month storage of the resulting juice was also evaluated. The process impact of the different unit processes, with emphasis on the novel spiral-filter pressing, was investigated for the three major compound classes present in tomato (ascorbic acid, phenolic compounds and carotenoids). The spiral-filter press processing did not seem to cause degradation of ascorbic acid, phenolic compounds or carotenoids, which can be ascribed to the fast processing in a low-oxygen atmosphere. Maintaining the native constitution of tomato to a great extent, the spiral-filter press thus offers potential for processing tomatoes and other vegetables into juices, smoothies and purees.

International audience; Industrial processing of fruit and vegetables can have detrimental effects on health-promoting phytochemicals. Here, a novel pilot-scale process using an innovative spiral-filter press followed by a thermal treatment was evaluated for the production of tomato juice. Three-month storage of the resulting juice was also evaluated. The process impact of the different unit processes, with emphasis on the novel spiral-filter pressing, was investigated for the three major compound classes present in tomato (ascorbic acid, phenolic compounds and carotenoids). The spiral-filter press processing did not seem to cause degradation of ascorbic acid, phenolic compounds or carotenoids, which can be ascribed to the fast processing in a low-oxygen atmosphere. Maintaining the native constitution of tomato to a great extent, the spiral-filter press thus offers potential for processing tomatoes and other vegetables into juices, smoothies and purees.

Two types of preservation methods based on the ultra high temperature (UHT) and microwave (MW) technologies were used for pasteurisation of cloudy juices prepared from different varieties of apples. The technological trials using Vaculiq press for juice production under anaerobic conditions and EnbioJet microwave flow pasteurizer or UHT system were performed in order to evaluate the effect of preservation method on the stability of phenolic compounds in apple juice. The chemical properties verified embraced determinations of polyphenols by HPLC-DAD-MS, total antioxidant activity, as well as chromatographic profiling of antioxidants by HPLC post-column derivatization. The obtained results indicate that the degradation of phenolic compounds during MW and UHT preservation processes was in the range 20-32% and 7-18%, respectively. As a consequence, the reduction of antioxidant activity at the level of 12-39% and 10-28% for MW and UHT technologies was observed. The results also revealed a significant effect of apple variety on the changes in polyphenolic profile due to the pasteurization process. Our studies could be of use while selecting the proper technology of preservation to maximize stability of apple phytochemicals and thereby to enhance the healthiness of diet for human populations., Journal of International Society of Antioxidants in Nutrition & Health, Vol 3, No 4 (2016)

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. SUNNIVA tar sikte på å utvikle et bærekraftig system fra produksjon til konsumering, via hele matvarekjeden for tomat og Brassica. Prosjektet vil øke forbrukernes tilgang til trygg, sunn og enkel mat gjennom nye behandlingsteknikker, og bedre utnyttelse av råvaren, biprodukter og avfall. Resultater fra prosjektet viser at restråstoff fra kål, tomat og skorsonnerot ikke blir optimalt utnyttet i prosesskjeden, og kan være en verdifull kilde til helsefremmende fytokjemikalier. Presskake fra tomat har en svært interessant næringssaltprofil, som gjør den til en god kandidat som råmateriale i jordforbedringsprodukter. Effekt av kultivar, gjødsling og prosessering på næringsinnhold i kål er evaluert.

he 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.

Transgenic plants that are being developed for commercial cultivation must be tested underfield conditions to monitor their effects on surrounding wildlife and conventional crops. Devel-opers also use this opportunity to evaluate the performance of transgenic crops in a typicalenvironment, although this is a matter of commercial necessity rather than regulatory compli-ance. Most countries have adapted existing regulations or developed new ones to deal specif-ically with transgenic crops and their commodities. The European Union (EU) is renowned, orperhaps notorious, for having the broadest and most stringent regulations governing suchfield trials in the world. This reflects its nominal adherence to the precautionary approach,which assumes all transgenic crops carry an inherent risk. Therefore, field trials in the EU needto demonstrate that the risk associated with deploying a transgenic crop has been reduced tothe level where it is regarded as acceptable within the narrowly defined limits of the regula-tions developed and enforced (albeit inconsistently) by national and regional governments,that is, that there is no greater risk than growing an equivalent conventional crop. Theinvolvement of national and regional competent authorities in the decision-making processcan add multiple layers of bureaucracy to an already-intricate process. In this review, we usecountry-based case studies to show how the EU, national and regional regulations are imple-mented, and we propose strategies that could increase the efficiency of regulation withoutburdening developers with further unnecessary bureaucracy. Research at the Universitat de Lleida is supported by MICINN,Spain (BFU2007-61413); European Union Framework 7 Pro-gram-SmartCell Integrated Project 222716; European UnionFramework 7 European Research Council IDEAS AdvancedGrant (to PC) Program-BIOFORCE; COST Action FA0804: Molecular farming: plants as a production platform for high valueproteins; Centre CONSOLIDER on Agrigenomics funded by MICINN, Spain.