CORE Organic Plus FaVOR-DeNonDe: Drying, Juices and Jams of Organic Fruit and Vegetables: what happens to Desired and Non-Desired compounds?

Six research units all over Europe (Italy, Estonia, Germany, Denmark and Norway) have a common interest in organic production, on-the-farm processing and what happens to positive and non-desireable compounds in produce and products. We have been working sweet peppers, tomatoes, strawberries, plums and apples. Norway took part in the work with strawberries, plums and apples. Products included dried fruits and vegetables, jams and juice. For juice and drying different types of equipment were compared. Positive compounds were phenolics and antioxidants. Studied undesired compounds were patulin and antigenes. For some products sensory analyses were performed. Applejuice - patulin and sensory evaluations: Estonian University of Life Sciences in Tartu pressed and pasteurised juice of Danish, Norwegian and Estonian organic and conventionally grown apples. Beltpresses gave juice with high antioxidant content, pneumatic press gave more tasty juice. However, no effect of pressing method was observed concerning patulin. Solar dryer - plums and compounds: CREA in Milan have developed a dryer based on solar energy and no need for electricity. This is compared to farm- and industrial drying cabinets at HAUST company in Kvam, Norway and Milan, Italy. Italian sweet peppers and tomatoes and Norwegian plums were dried. The plums included organic and conventional grown Opal, Mallard, Reeves, Victoria and Jubileum. Solar drying depends on sunshine and temperature. In cool seasons when plums ripen late in September, even in Milan the solar energy will be limited. This led in some samples to fungal problems. No differences in such problems were observed between cultivars and growing system. The content of phenolics and antioxidants is higher in organic than conventional fruits and berries. During drying vitamin C will be destroyed, while other phenolics and antioxidant keep well. There were no differences between solar drying systems (25-35C) and dry air cabinets in Norway (42C) and Italy (55C). However, products dried at lower temperatures are more tasty. Antigens: At The University in Freising (near München) antigenes are studied, and how they are influenced by processing. Organic and conventional Norwegian Discovery, Aroma, Bramleys seedling and Santana apples are included. So far the results indicate there are cultivar differences, however, no differences due to growing method.

Is there a connection between sustainable agriculture techniques and sustainable processing techniques and how these techniques influence the sensory and nutritional quality of the processed food? Products studied will include tomatoes, sweet bell peppar, plums, cherries, apples and strawberries. Products based on organic raw material will be compared to products of conventionally grown raw material. Small scale on the farm production of dried products (solar vs forced drying), jams and juices will be studied for differences in sensory or nutritional properties, content of undesired compounds and allergenic properties. Two fundamental aspects of the organic agricultural processing is included: 1: presence of desired compounds, such as antioxidants and tastants and their retention in the entire food chain from the raw product to the processed one will be studied. A special attention will be paid on the small-scale, local and traditional products and processing methods. Can this approach be suitable for obtaining products with an elevated impact on the consumer's expectations, preserving the quality of the products as much as possible, trying to produce effective guidelines for the investigated Processing methods. 2: presence of undesired compounds like allergens and mycotoxins are debated in organic products. Organic products must build their own defense compounds and are more susceptible to fungal presence than conventional ones, where the defense compounds presence is delegated to external chemical inputs. The presence of allergens and mycotoxins, related to fungi diseases, may be strongly influenced by different conditions of processing and pre-harvest factors like genotypes and sampling criteria. A special attention will be paid to the presence of patulin in apple juice. The mycotoxin patulin is cytotoxic, immunosuppressive and possibly neurotoxic.