Approaches to mitigate the risks related to the microbial spoilage of agri-foods

Both the scientific community and the relevant stakeholders recognize that to reduce the biological/chemical risk and guarantee food safety (e.g., reduction of contamination by pesticides residues, mycotoxin, etc.), it is of paramount importance to find novel mitigation strategies that might fit the postharvest handling and transformation phases. The agri-food product quality and safety could greatly be compromised by fungi able to produce toxic metabolites as well as by the residues of the conventional means used for their control. Furthermore, agri-foods harbor toxic metabolites as well as contaminants introduced during handling steps that might withstand the transformation processes. The application of multiple mitigation solutions might increase the chance of success according of the “multiple-hurdle” concept. Agri-food products might even be enriched in beneficial compounds.

The research will foresee different activities involving both fruits (at least two species) and vegetables (at least two species) as reported below:

• Postharvest application of different eco-friendly treatments (e.g., plant extracts and other GRAS compounds, microbial antagonists, etc.) to reduce the proliferation of fungi and consequent production of metabolites.
• Postharvest application of customized decontaminant solutions (e.g., electrolyzed water, plasma, macro/micro-waves, etc.) to reduce the microbial loads of selected commodities and operational environment.
• Fine tuning of means as modified atmosphere, active packaging, etc. during storage phase.
• Prediction of the treatments’ effects on the agri-food safety.

• Selection of a pool of postharvest treatments, to be applied singly or in combination, to retard spoilage by microorganisms, thus prolonging quality and safety until consumption, including packaging/storage solutions. 
• Definition of a “multi-hurdle” strategy to obtain a product of high quality and safety.
• Data on the effect of the proposed strategies on the product composition in terms of beneficial (e.g., antioxidants, reduction of allergens) and detrimental compounds (e.g., mycotoxins, pesticide residues) will be provided.