Naturpick project aims to develop fortified foods from by-products of the fruit and vegetable industry
The research project titled “Nutritionally enriched foods using bioactive substances obtained from non-marketable products of the fruit and vegetable industry” proposes providing the fortified food (bars, gels and powders) and gummies sector with tools and ingredients in order to obtain healthier products, as well as providing the fruit and vegetable sector with a new line of business to give value to products that, even meeting basic quality standards, cannot be marketed well because they do not meet the size, color and/or shape requirements , or by excess of production in a circular economy approach.
The project has a time frame of 30 months from October 2018 and has a global budget of €1.2M and will be carried out in cooperation by 3 Andalusian companies: Agroponiente Natural Produce, S.L. from Almería (Coordinator), Moreno Ruiz Hermanos, S.L. from Sevilla and DMC Research Center, S.L., technological entity dedicated to R&D linked to DOMCA.
The consortium has the collaboration of the following Research and Innovation Organisms: The Technological Center for the Auxiliary Industry, Postharvest and Fruit and Vegetable Packaging, Tecnova, an international agri-food benchmark center, the University of Granada and the University of Seville.
This project is framed within the FEDER INTERCONECTA 2018 call, subsidized by the CDTI, supported by the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities and co-financed with Structural Funds of the European Union within the <Smart Growth Operational Program 2014-2020.