World hunger is rising and yet the developed world is wasting 1/3 of the food produced. The food waste increases throughout the value chain, from producers to end consumers, with 35% of the waste being produced by the end-users. Currently, it is estimated that fruit waste represents about 27% of the total food waste of the UE. ImproVITA was developed with the aim to obtain an improved and more sustainable food preservative, with anti-microbial properties, allowing the extension of the shelf life of fresh cut fruits beyond the currently available solutions. Increasing fruit’s shelf life, leads to waste reduction, which will have direct economic impact, but will also have high environmental impact since food waste contributes to 8–10% of global GHG emissions.
The initial work was developed under the ERC Consolidator Grant Des Solve (ERC-2016-CoG 725034) under the scope of the PhD research project of Liane Meneses (10.54499/SFRH/BD/148510/2019). Acknowledging the potential of the formulation from the first results obtained in the lab, in 2020, the team participated in the entrepreneurship program Born from Knowledge, promoted by ANI. Under the scope of this program, the researchers got feedback from the food industry that validated the need for such a product and the potential of their idea. During this period, the stability of ascorbic acid was validated at the laboratorial scale in multiple NADES and optimised ImproVITA, the formulation that was later tested for the preservation of different samples. From the first contacts with the industry, a partnership was established with Campotec, who tested ImproVITA in the preservation of fresh cut apples slices and Rocha Center for testing in pears.
In 2023, ImproVITA was awarded an ERC Proof of Concept Grant (ERC-PoC-ImproVITA-101138403). Since the beginning of the PoC project, the team took this project even further. The formulation was presented to national and international companies of fresh and ready-to-eat products, and all of them have confirmed the potential of the formulation. The team partnered with Driscoll’s Portugal and BFruit, two companies specialized in the production of berries. Berries are the most sensitive type of fruits, with a short shelf life of only 8 days, when stored in the ideal conditions. Both companies have demonstrated the interest in the extension of shelf life of their products and have been testing the solution in the field. The pilot studies show that using ImproVITA allows to extend the shelf life of berries by 2 days. Although an extension of shelf life by 2 days doesn’t seem much, it actually is. Since most of the berry’s production is exported to central and north Europe, the extra time allows the fruits to reach these markets in better conditions. This directly impacts the consumer’s perception of the brand and the quality of the product they buy. On a different context, in collaboration with Florette, ImproVITA was also tested in the preservation of leaves (lettuce, spinach, etc) who state the need for a preservative to increase the shelf life of salads and bagged leaves. At this moment the team is pursuing these studies and applying for further funding with their partners.
The resources provided allowed the researchers to gather results over 6 years which led to the patent application “Food preservative eutectic composition, methods, and uses thereof” (2024) and recently, to the publication of the manuscript “Incorporating Ascorbic Acid into Natural Deep Eutectic Systems: A Study on Antioxidant Preservation” in ACS Food Science and Technology (DOI 10.1021/acsfoodscitech.5c00067). The high impact of this research has also been spread through social communication, having been shown on RTP (https://shorturl.at/szRkp), Público (https://shorturl.at/XLLFv), Agência Lusa (https://shorturl.at/FgKgq) among others. Moreover, in 2023, ImproVITA won the 10th Edition of the Crédito Agrícola Entrepreneurship and Innovation Award, in the “Food Safety and Nutrition” category, which further validates the novelty and relevance of ImproVITA.
By addressing food waste reduction, food safety, innovation, and environmental sustainability, ImproVITA contributes to several Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Specifically, the project supports SDG 2 – Zero Hunger (T2.1) by improving the availability of fresh, nutritious food through reduced post-harvest losses; SDG 8 – Decent Work and Economic Growth (T8.2) by fostering innovation and enhancing productivity in the agri-food sector; SDG 9 – Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure (T9.5) through its promotion of applied scientific research and technological development; SDG 12 – Responsible Consumption and Production (T12.3) by reducing food waste along the supply chain; and SDG 13 – Climate Action (T13.2) by contributing to the reduction of GHG emissions.
ImproVITA is an innovative product that can reduce food waste on the consumer side by increasing the shelf life of ready to eat fruits and vegetables.
Alexandre Paiva