The berries emerging in Europe from new breeding and processing

Spain

Turkiye

Published Feb 7, 2024

Tridge summary

Two EU-funded projects are working to improve the sustainability and resilience of berries. The BreedingValue project, led by Professor Bruno Mezzetti, is increasing the genetic diversity of strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries to enhance their resistance to diseases, pests, and droughts, while retaining their taste and texture. Meanwhile, the FRIETS project is developing new dehydration techniques, including microwave vacuum drying, freeze-drying, and osmotic dehydration, to increase the shelf life of berries and create healthier snacks without added sugar, salt, or chemical preservatives. The project is also exploring seaweed-based packaging to reduce plastic use, with the first products expected to be sold through Rezos Brands in 2024.

Disclaimer: The above summary was generated by a state-of-the-art LLM model and is intended for informational purposes only. It is recommended that readers refer to the original article for more context.

Original content

Research is helping strawberries and raspberries become more resilient to climate change and snacks become healthier.Supermarkets across Europe offer such regular and wide selections of strawberries, raspberries and blueberries—even in the grip of winter—that it's easy to take them for granted.But behind the seemingly limitless domestic and foreign supplies on store shelves, the berry sector worldwide is facing a serious threat: Increasingly erratic growing conditions sparked by climate change. The result is that berries are more vulnerable to pests, diseases and droughts.Professor Bruno Mezzetti is seeking answers for producers in Europe. An expert in fruit-crop breeding and biotechnology at Marche Polytechnic University in Italy, he leads a project that received EU funding to increase the genetic diversity of cultivated strawberries, raspberries and blueberries in a bid to make them more resilient while retaining the traits—taste, texture and smell—craved by consumers.Called ...

Source: Phys