| Summary: | Postharvest losses of fruit, vegetables, and aromatic plants have high economic impact in
the Mediterranean area and contribute to food waste. One of the United Nations Priorities,
the ZeroHunger Challenge, consists of cutting food waste by half by 2030. StopMedWaste
Project (2020-2024) see the interaction of 8 Research Units (UNIVPM, CUT, UNIBA, INRAT,
UNITO, UE, IVIA, IKACHEM and DECCO) to join efforts to extend the shelf life of fresh fruit,
vegetables, and aromatic plants by applying physical means, natural compounds and
biocontrol agents. These treatments are being applied in the laboratory, under semicommercial
conditions, and in the packinghouses. The effects of these treatments on fruit
quality, decay, and development of foodborne pathogens are under monitoring during
storage, transportation and shelf life, to define their impact on food waste. Results achieved
till now showed the beneficial effects of treatment with physical means (ozone, electrolysed
water, UVc), natural compounds (chitosan, essential oils, bicarbonates and other antifungal
edible coatings), and biocontrol agents in improving the quality of fresh fruit (citrus,
pomegranates, peaches, nectarines, apricots, plums, sweet cherries, strawberries, table
grapes), vegetables (tomatoes, cucumbers) and aromatic plants (spearmint, basil), that
allowed to keep quality and reduce decay, and then waste.
This work was conducted within the framework of the PRIMA StopMedWaste Project
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