The project meeting focused mainly on the results of the last pilot tests with the PEF technology. The pilots took place in various product categories: tomatoes, olive oil, wine and fruit juices. The consortium partners active in these product categories presented the results of the PEF treatment which showed varying degrees of effectiveness.
The results obtained with tomatoes, showed that the application of a PEF treatment prior to the steam peeling reduced the energy input up to 28 %. Higher reductions were observed when less ripe tomatoes were treated in comparison with the more ripened tomatoes. In all the tomato varieties and maturity stages, the application of a PEF treatment improved the peeling.
The results of the application of PEF of this years pilot testing with olives, showed that the malaxation time can be reduced. Since the season was not over yet at the time of the meeting, the University of Zaragoza will perform more experiments to confirm these results.