SUNNIVA - Final report

Summary

The project “Sustainable food production through quality optimized raw-material production and processing technologies for premium quality vegetable products and generated by-products” [SUNNIVA] aimed at the development of a sustainable food system from production to consumption, addressing the entire food supply chain for the vegetables tomato and Brassicae. The goal was better utilisation of the vegetable raw materials, reduced energy and water consumption, higher profitability and healthier food. This was achieved by providing various valorisation strategies to reduce waste and limiting environmental impact. Preservation of the intrinsic health-beneficial phytochemicals present in the raw material in order to improve the nutritional properties of vegetable food products was central in the project. The project contained optimization of harvest time and pre-processing storage conditions, development of novel mild processing design based on modelling, and a two-track valorisation strategy. SUNNIVA has demonstrated how the various residual raw materials can be exploited to the full: Either directly for sustainable production of healthy food (as a refined product or an ingredient), or indirectly by bringing it back into the food chain (as organic fertilizers and soil amendment products) in order to generate renewed primary production with minimal environmental impact.