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Sustainable
potato storage
There’s more science going into the humble
‘spud’ than you might imagine – our Soil and
Agrifood Institute is also researching new and
cost-effective technologies for the storage of
potatoes.
There is a need to find alternatives to the chemical
chlorpropham (CIPC), which is commonly used to manage
sprouting, as further restrictions are coming into force.
We are aiming to develop storage interventions for
processing potatoes which will suppress sprouting and
maintain low sugars, paramount for supply quality and to
minimise the formation of acrylamide. This will hopefully
lead to an incremental reduction in CIPC usage.
The four-year project in collaboration with PepsiCo started
in 2015, and is funded by the Biotechnology and Biological
Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and Innovate UK.
Developing the next generation of food packaging
We all want our fruit and vegetables to be kept fresh for as longer as possible and its packaging plays
a vital role in this.
Our Soil and Agrifood Institute is developing innovative and cost-effective next generation modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) for
prolonged storage and improved management of fresh produce throughout the supply chain.
The control of respiratory gases within a storage or packaging environment is often used to extend the postharvest storage and shelf-
life of fresh fruit and veg, so reducing wastage in the supply chain.
Current MAP already extends the postharvest quality of fresh produce but its performance is often limited by an inability to respond to
the changing physiology of the produce, leading to the development of suboptimal gas conditions.
Working with sustainable technologies leaders Johnson Matthey, we are focusing on developing the next generation of
MAP by administering the ideal gaseous conditions at the optimum time.
Professor Leon Terry, Director of Environment and Agrifood, said: “The packaging would benefit
considerably if it is made flexible so that it responds to the changing physiology of the
produce. In doing so, we will extend the storage of fruit and vegetables on farms and
reduce waste throughout the supply chain.”
Work on the three-year project, funded by the Biotechnology and
Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and Innovate
UK, started in October.
Fruit and vegetables are mainly grown in the
driest parts of the UK, such as East Anglia
or the South East, where water resources are
also under most pressure due to factors like
an increasing population. Countries which
are major exporters of fruit and vegetables to
the UK – like Spain, South Africa, Kenya and
Morocco – also suffer similar pressures as
water resources are even more scarce there.
With fresh fruit and veg such an important part of our diet,
we are looking at ways of increasing resilience to water-
related risks in the UK system. Water-related risks include
its physical availability which means that we might not
be able to produce so much and prices go up as a result,
reputational risks when environmental issues are highlighted
in the media, and also regulatory risks like irrigation being
restricted if there is a drought or introducing legislation for
environmental reasons.
Dr Tim Hess from Cranfield Water Science Institute is leading
on the project. He said: “We are examining the dilemma that
the consumption of fresh fruit and vegetables is encouraged,
versus the fact that water resources are under real pressure
both in the UK and overseas in the places where fruit and
vegetables are grown.
“We will be exploring ways of increasing resilience to water-
related risks in the system at all levels from farmers, to
suppliers and retailers, through to consumers, and seeing if
their needs are compatible or in conflict with each other.
“We don’t want to be importing food to the UK while
‘exporting’ drought; the fact that fresh fruit may always be
available in this country might actually be detrimental to
farmers or the environment in other countries, for instance.”
The near £1.3 million three-year project, which started in
October, is a collaboration with the University of East Anglia,
NIAB EMR (formerly East Malling Research) and University
of Oxford.
It is one of five new interdisciplinary research projects,
totalling £9 million, helping to ensure the UK’s future food
security. Under the banner of the UK’s Global Food Security
Programme, they are being funded by the Biotechnology
and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC),
Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and Natural
Environment Research Council (NERC), with the Scottish
Government also co-funding one of the projects.
Increasing resilience
to water-related risks
in the UK fresh fruit
and veg system
Consumers want to enjoy, and retailers want to sell, fruit grown in the UK which retains its full
flavour for longer.
To achieve a year-round supply in the UK, most apples are typically stored for up to six months, depending on variety. This means the
supply of UK-grown top fruit is restricted to a small marketing window, from September through to March, due to late-stored fruit not
competing well in terms of quality with new season fruit from the Southern Hemisphere.
Now in an effort to extend the ‘flavour-life’ of UK apples by up to six weeks, our researchers in the Soil and Agrifood Institute are
employing state-of-the-art sensors allied to improved postharvest storage.
Professor Leon Terry, Director of Environment and Agrifood, said: “This is building upon our recent research to develop novel sensors
to better inform targeted controlled atmosphere to suppress ripening while maintaining flavour, offering the ability to extend storage
and so help reduce waste and the reliance on imports.
“The British apple industry is continuously being asked by UK retailers to extend availability and this can only be achieved by
implementing ever more sophisticated storage technologies.
“We need to improve how apples are stored so that the focus is moved towards 'flavour-life' rather than just being driven by firmness
and sugar content. If we control ripening while maintaining 'flavour-life', we can make incremental increases in storage time to help
reduce a reliance on imports and extend the window in which high-quality British fruit can be offered.”
We are collaborating with supermarket giants Tesco, as well as Avalon Produce, Richard Hochfeld, Chelsea Technologies Group and
UNIVEG Katope UK, on the three-year project which is being funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
(BBSRC) and Innovate UK.
Every little helps in extending
the flavour-life of apples
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