Development of smart labelling on new vegetable food products to support consumers healthy and sustainable choices

The Nutrient Quality Indexes (NQI) are usually used to provide indications about the overall nutritional value per portion of the given food. However, such NQI are most referred to the “standard” food such as, for vegetables, broccoli and tomatoes. Hence, the NQI does not take into account new categories of vegetables deriving both from research and from users’ needs, such as microgreens and biofortified vegetables, as well as the local varieties of vegetables. However, these categories should be considered, also in view of the nutritional/therapeutic needs of the consumers, that may be either healthy or with chronic, non-communicable diseases.

With the aim of developing NQI, several expertise will be integrated. 
First, epidemiological surveys will be conducted to dissect quality/quantity of food consumption in relation to aging, fragility, health status, geographical location, cultural, and psychological aspects which can influence food choice. This task can improve the knowledge and choice capacity of potential consumers. 
The NQI will be calibrated for specific nutritional needs of elderly and frail individuals. To this purpose, advanced analytical methods based on chromatographic separations coupled with mass spectrometry will be developed for the identification and quantification, in conventional vegetables, micro-vegetables, biofortified vegetables and local varieties, of compounds frequently found in plant products and for which beneficial properties for human health have been widely recognised.

Smart labelling of the products reporting the nutritional characteristics to support consumers healthy and sustainable choices, with specific focus on fragile population groups (e.g., elderly, children, chronic disease, etc.).