PPS 6

Authenticity and Traceability of PDO and IGP fruits and cheeses

To investigate and develop methodologies to allow the clarification of the origin and quality of food products and to provide information on authenticity and traceability

Global objectives

  • To provide companies with new methodologies to ensure the authenticity of products, regarding their identity, origin and traceability of the processes to which they were subjected. There were selected as a case study the Maçã de Alcobaça PGI, the Pera Rocha do Oeste PDO and the Queijo da Serra da Estrela PDO.

  • To contribute to the strengthening of a network of laboratories that allow for efficiency gains to answer to the qualification of PDO and IGP agrifood products.

  • To ensure the coordination and interoperability of the information through the value chain, from agricultural production to the final consumer.

  • To gather more consumers of Portuguese PDO and PGI products in the most demanding and sensitive markets regarding the origin of food products.

Specific objectives:

  • To investigate and to develop a scientific methodology to identify the differentiating characteristics (nutritional, organoleptic, sensory and others) of the target products that may become unique markers and qualification arguments, and consequent valorization (in fresh product, also checking its applicability/validity in processed product);

  • To provide new analytical solutions to support companies, as tools to support the authenticity of their products;

  • To ensure multidirectional agro-industrial traceability.

Results

Development of studes based on Maçã de Alcobaça PGI and Pera Rocha do Oeste PDO:

  • Contribution for the development of technologies which allow the identification of analytical elements to certify that a specific fruit is from a certified originin, even after being processed.
  • Participation in the creation of an integrated rastreability platform to allow the final consumer to access, through the label, the origin of the specific fruit used in that product, its producer and its region of provenance
  • Based on the obtained results by the diverse analytical techniques, it was possible to discriminate the target products, Pera Rocha do Oeste PDO, Maçã de Alcobaça var. Golden Delicious PGI and Queijo Serra da Estrela PDO from the control products.
  • These results will be important for the definition of an analytical fingerprint which may be used in schemes for the determination of the authenthicity of some products.
  • It was developed the rastreability platform, with a diverse number of valences which regarding all the value chain, from the producer to the final consumer.

PARTNERS

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