Reduce food loss and waste and improve water management in the Mediterranean agro-food supply chain are the main objectives of FRUALGAE, a new CCMAR project, launched on September. This project is funded by the highly competitive Partnership for Research and Innovation in the Mediterranean Area (PRIMA), coordinated by the Agricultural University of Athens and involves eight academic partners from four european countries (Greece, Portugal, Germany and Italy),two from the Mediterranean Basin (Lebanon and Egypt) and one SME.

This project aims to develop new strategies for nonthermal food processing methods, development of edible packaging using a range of materials and smart labels and biosensors for monitoring product quality. Researchers aim to find practical solutions to improve and extend the shelf-life of perishable Mediterranean food product and capacity building through training and workshops.

Marine microalgae will be used as bio-remediators to treat greenhouse hydroponic cultures wastewaters and explore the high value microalgae biomass for the development of new biotechnological products and applications for food industry.

The project will be transformative and bring new innovation to the Mediterranean agriculture and food sector and social benefits will increase quality and safety of perishable food, reduced food waste and novel solutions for water management in agriculture in the Mediterranean Area.