Innovative and eco-sustainable processing and packaging for safe and high quality organic products with enhanced nutritional quality. Final report

The main goal of the project has been to develop innovative sustainable processing and packaging technologies to meet the growing consumer demand and boost the manufacturing of safe organic berry products with high nutritional quality and low environmental impact. The aim has been to evaluate technologies to naturally extend the shelf-life of fresh organic berries and to process berries into a wide variety of value added products. Several solutions and technologies for extending shelf life and the overall quality of fresh and processed berry and fruit products have been identified and developed during the three years of the project

Quality evaluation in logistic services

The paper highlights some problems relevant to the quality measurements in logistic services. "Traditional" logistic indicators are compared with the service dimensions defined in the Parasuraman-Zeithaml-Berry model. Furthermore, the problem of service indicators aging is analyzed and discussed. In order to enhance readers' ability to contribute to the development in the field, the authors pose open-ended questions in the articl

Potential for Ethanol Vapours to Limit Table Grape Berry Shatter and to Limit Ethylene Evolution from Clusters

We have shown previously that ethanol vapours (given by 2 ml per kg of grapes) can prevent Botrytis development and stem browning, two of the major problems in postharvest quality of table grapes. In the present paper, we will give emphasis to preliminary results about (i) the role of ethanol vapours in the inhibition of berry shatter and (ii) the control of ethylene evolution from grapes bunches by ethanol vapours and the link to the control of Botryti

Brocap trap to control the coffee berry borer in Indonesia

The coffee berry borer (CBB, Hypothenemus hampei Ferr.) is the most serious insect pest on coffee in Indonesia. It causes significant yield losses in terms of coffee production, but also reduces coffee bean quality, resulting in low productivity and the poor quality of Indonesian coffee. On average, CBB infestation on Indonesian coffee is more than 20%, and it results in yield losses of more than 10%. Using traps is the new CBB control method and the Brocap trap, developed by CIRAD and PROCAFE in El Salvador, is specially designed for Hypothenemus hampei. The trap is considered as a useful addition to IPM for CBB control in Indonesia. (Résumé d'auteur

Targeted precision biocontrol and pollination enhancement in organic cropping systems

Organic berry and fruit production suffers heavily from the lack of effective disease and pest management tools, and from inadequate insect pollination at times. As a consequence, the expanding demand on organic berries cannot be filled today. BICOPOLL expects to change this, and to significantly improve the yield and quality of organic fruit and berry production and thus, farm economics. We will use bees to (i) target deliver biological control agents to the flowers of the target crops to provide control of problem diseases (or pests), and to (ii) improve the pollination of organic horticultural crops. BICOPOLL will provide a pan-European case study on protecting organic strawberry from its most important disease, the grey mould. In addition we will improve the efficiency of the entomovector technology via innovative research on bee management, manipulation of bee behavior, components of the cropping system, and on the plant-pathogen-vector-antagonist –system, and will investigate possibilities of expanding the use of the concept into other organic berry and fruit growing systems. This is a highly innovative approach to solving some of the most difficult disease and pest problems in organic berry and fruit production, offering solutions in areas where no solutions as yet exist. The entomovector approach represents the only significant breakthrough in sight for improving plant protection in organic cropping systems, particularly in high-value crops. BICOPOLL brings together for the first time the fragmented research in the area, where small groups have worked on their own. We investigate, exploit, and support the natural ecological functions of biocontrol and pollination, and enhance these via innovative management. The entomovector technology contributes to improved resource use and efficiency in production, and enhances local biodiversity unlike most other plant protection systems. The main target groups of the BICOPOLL project are organic strawberry growers, other organic berry and fruit growers, as well as beekeepers and their organizations, to whom technology and knowledge transfer will be implemented during the project via direct contacts

A Customer Service Design Case Study: Insights on Customer Loyalty in the Brazilian Food Sector

Marketing managers of local and international food companies have realized that what they offer to customers go well beyond the characteristics and attributes of the products their companies manufacture and market. Service has become an integral part of the offer (Grönroos, 1993); a high service quality improves the company competitiveness, builds customer trust, supports the company brand and other product attributes (Berry & Parasuraman, 1991, p. 12). This paper seeks to investigate whether customer care service perceived quality in the food sector is truly relevant to customer satisfaction and loyalty.quality service evaluation, consumer service, loyalty, food industry, Agribusiness, International Relations/Trade,

Biocontrol Ability and Action Mechanism of Starmerella bacillaris (Synonym Candida zemplinina) Isolated from Wine Musts against Gray Mold Disease Agent Botrytis cinerea on Grape and Their Effects on Alcoholic Fermentation

Gray mold is one of the most important diseases of grapevine in temperate climates. This plant pathogen affects plant growth and reduces wine quality. The use of yeasts as biocontrol agents to apply in the vineyard have been investigated in recent years as an alternative to agrochemicals. In this work, fermenting musts obtained from overripe grape berries, therefore more susceptible to infection by fungal pathogens such as Botrytis cinerea, were considered for the selection of yeasts carrying antifungal activity. Thirty-six isolates were identified as Starmerella bacillaris, a species recently proven to be of enological interest. Among them 14 different strains were studied and antifungal activity against B. cinerea was demonstrated, for the first time, to be present in S. bacillaris species. The production of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), tested in vitro, was found to be the main responsible of S. bacillaris antifungal effects. All the strains were able to reduce B. cinerea decay on wounded grape berries artificially inoculated with gray mold. The colonization level of wound was very high reaching, after 5 days, a concentration of 10(6) cells per ml of grape juice obtained after berry crushing. At this cell concentration S. bacillaris strains were used to ferment synthetic and natural musts. The sequential yeast inoculation, performed by adding S. cerevisiae 48 h after S. bacillaris, was needed to complete sugar consumption and determined a significant increase in glicerol content and a reduction of ethanol and acetic acid concentrations. The high wound colonization ability, found in this work, together with the propensity to colonize grape berry and the interesting enological traits possessed by the selected S. bacillaris strains allow the use of this yeast as biocontrol agent on vine and grape berries with possible positive effects on must fermentation, although the presence of S. cerevisiae is needed to complete the fermentation process. This work introduces new possibilities in wine yeast selection programs in order to identify innovative wine yeasts that are simultaneously antifungal agents in vineyards and alternative wine starters for grape must fermentation and open new perspective to a more integrated strategy for increasing wine quality