On October 29 and 30, a delegation from the University of Aachen and the BioeconomyREVIER cluster visited the universities of Pavia and Turin as part of the NODES project, strengthening collaboration between European academic and research institutions. The meeting saw the collaboration and participation of researchers from Spoke 2, 6 and 7, on Green and sustainability issues specific to our territory.
On the 29th, Giuseppina Sandri from the University of Pavia touched on the topic of smart packaging with a speech entitled Development of innovative materials for packaging and smart-packaging from waste products. The intervention was part of the day dedicated to innovation in the primary agro-industry and was organized in collaboration with Spoke 6.
The themes of Spoke 7 were also presented the following day, when the delegation met researchers at the University of Turin. Here, the researcher from the Polytechnic of Turin Diana Massai presented the challenges and opportunities of cultured meat as an alternative protein food to conventional meat produced through intensive farming as a sustainable, “healthy, green and smart” resource. He also provided an overview of the research network on cultured meat that is being created in Piedmont between the various regional universities, also thanks to the support of the Center for Studies and Research on Sustainable Food.
The meeting strengthened the dialogue between our universities and Aachen, highlighting the innovations that the territory is carrying forward in terms of sustainability in the secondary agro-industry sector.
On 24 October 2024, the event “Sustainability and Digitalisation in Agro-Industry” was held at the Gran Torre Hotel in Oristano as part of the Roadshow Mezzogiorno. Among the key speakers, Prof. Alberto S. Atzori from the University of Sassari presented the Formidable project, focused on digital innovation in agro-livestock. Dr. Giorgio Todde, an Open Innovation Specialist from the same university, discussed digitalisation and innovation in the primary sector. This was followed by Eng. Lucia Marazzi from the University of Pavia, who explained the cascading funding schemes Spoke6 and 7 under the Mezzogiorno Line.
A roundtable followed, where various companies showcased their innovative projects. Key participants included Iosef Cigagna from Drop S.r.l., who presented the “DAIRY LIFE PRO” project; Giuseppe Diana from C.A.O. Formaggi, who discussed “DIGICAO”; and Marta Polimeno from Agrigeos S.r.l., who presented “SPIDPAP.” Additionally, Emanuele Gosamo and Maurizio Naletto from Primo Principio S.c.a.r.l. introduced “GAINS,” while Sofia Matia Lilli from Agricolus S.r.l. discussed “CEBUS.” Gianluigi Demuro from Studio-A Automazione S.r.l. concluded the session by presenting the “MICENE” project, on behalf of Spoke 7.
The event served as a valuable platform for dialogue among universities, companies, and stakeholders in the agricultural sector. It highlighted how new technologies and sustainability initiatives are transforming the agro-industry in Southern Italy. Following a Q&A session, the event concluded with a networking lunch, providing participants with the opportunity to further explore the topics discussed and establish new collaborations.
Theme of the exchange: the links between food production and environmental and social sustainability
The Appl[e]ause project lands overseas. Researchers Raffaele Passaro and Cristian Campagnaro of Spoke 7, referents of the Polito Food Design Lab of the Polytechnic of Turin were guests of the Camara de Comercio de Bogotà and CAINCO of Santa Cruz de la Sierra. The initiative was part of the triangular cooperation project Adelante 2.
The visit was an opportunity to focus on the exchange of good circular practices carried out by companies in the three countries and supported by the relevant Chambers of Commerce: it was possible to present the Appl[e]ause research at the UPSA - Universidad Privada de Santa Cruz de la Sierra - and the Camara Gastronomica of CAINCO.
Two distinct moments – within the CAINCO greenweek – designed to disseminate research, as a good practice, for the valorization of by-products of fruit processing and establish a dialogue aimed at stimulating discussion on the topic of environmental sustainability and social of food production processes.
Pics by: Doriana Dal Palù, Osvaldo Daniel Gutierrez Sumoya
The activities, in the framework of Unight and Sharper Night, involved a varied audience between Pavia and Cuneo
Bringing research outside the University and bringing it closer to the community is the goal of the Reseacher's Night, an event of dissemination that has been a cornerstone of university activities for many years.
The researchers of Spoke 7 took part in the event in Pavia, the Sharper Night, where the research group of the Food Education and Sports Nutrition Laboratory of the University of Pavia proposed numerous initiatives for a wide audience.
The play activities for girls and boys presented on September 27 were created to explore the theme of seasonality and the food pyramid. Similarly, through a game, you could discover the good and bad habits linked to lifestyle.
For the adult audience, instead, presentations were proposed on various topics: from how to debunk fake news, to reading nutritional labels, up to discovering nutritional strategies to organize meals of everyday life but also out of the home.
At the Unight of Cuneo instead it was the turn of an interactive lesson for High Schools. Here, Professor Milena Viassone of the University of Turin, spoke about "How to build a business strategy: examples from the food and beverage sector" .
"Understanding cultural differences and health awareness in food choices: a theoretical model" was instead the theme chosen for a meeting with citizens, a presentation in which the speaker wanted to explain how culture and health awareness can influence the lifestyles of consumers, also determining responsible food purchases.
Researchers from the University of Gastronomic Sciences of Pollenzo launch a new questionnaire
“Uovo circolare” is the title of the project that BEF Biosystems and Fantolino Distribuzione Società agricola a r.l. are carrying out in collaboration with the University of Gastronomic Sciences. In this context of research and experimentation, researchers Luisa Torri, Nazarena Cela and Chiara Nervo have launched a new questionnaire to investigate how much consumers may have a predisposition to buy eggs from farms that promote circular economy processes.
“In this questionnaire - explains Professor Luisa Torri - you will be asked to answer a series of questions regarding personality traits, intrinsic and extrinsic factors that influence food choices, attitudes and behaviors towards issues of environmental sustainability and reduction of food waste, propensity to buy “circular” eggs and socio-demographic characteristics.”
Participate in this survey means helping research investigate the attitude of those who want to consume "circular" eggs, obtained from hens also fed with insect larvae raised using by-products from the food industry. Filling out the questionnaire takes about 12 minutes and you can participate until the end of October 2024.
Take part in the survey
Researchers from the University of Gastronomic Sciences of Pollenzo launch a new questionnaire
“Uovo circolare” is the title of the project that BEF Biosystems and Fantolino Distribuzione Società agricola a r.l. are carrying out in collaboration with the University of Gastronomic Sciences. In this context of research and experimentation, researchers Luisa Torri, Nazarena Cela and Chiara Nervo have launched a new questionnaire to investigate how much consumers may have a predisposition to buy eggs from farms that promote circular economy processes.
“In this questionnaire - explains Professor Luisa Torri - you will be asked to answer a series of questions regarding personality traits, intrinsic and extrinsic factors that influence food choices, attitudes and behaviors towards issues of environmental sustainability and reduction of food waste, propensity to buy “circular” eggs and socio-demographic characteristics.”
Participate in this survey means helping research investigate the attitude of those who want to consume "circular" eggs, obtained from hens also fed with insect larvae raised using by-products from the food industry. Filling out the questionnaire takes about 12 minutes and you can participate until the end of October 2024.
Take part in the survey
BETWEEN RESEARCH AND BUSINESS: Industrial and academic projects meet
Bringing the world of research into contact with that of business was the ambition of the meeting organized by Sppoke 7 at the Polytechnic of Turin. BETWEEN RESEARCH AND BUSINESS it was an opportunity to meet the faces behind the industrial and academic projects that won the funding made available by NODES - Nord Ovest Digitale E Sostenibile and to create a space for discussion between researchers and companies linked to the secondary agro-industry sector.
The meeting was opened by the presentation of Luisa Torri, Scientific Manager and Project Manager of Spoke 7, who introduced the speech Overview of cascade calls for Line A Spoke 7 NODES by Dario Vallauri and Laura Fuso (Polo AGRIFOOD, M.I.A.C. Scpa).
There then followed three moments of discussion on the themes Green Food, Healthy food and Smart Food, the 3 themes that linked the industrial POCs of Spoke 7. To close the meeting, a B2B - B2R space to connect researchers who won the academic POCs and the companies present at the meeting.
The Spoke 7 present at the VIII National Conference of the Italian Society of Sensory Sciences
The perception of tastes can vary depending on the temperature of the food: they are studying this at the University of Gastronomic Sciences, Luisa Torriand Chiara Chirilli, who at the VIII National Conference of the Italian Society of Sensory Sciences Alghero received the SISS Young Researchers award.
This work represents a preliminary mapping of Thermal Tasters and Thermal Non-Tasters to better understand the potential discriminating factors and to provide indications on the possible impact of Thermal Taster Status on taste perception and potentially on food preferences.
At the conference, the study themes of the Spoke 7 flagship projects were also represented by the studies of Luisa Torri and Nazarena Cela: not only Thermale Taster was talked about Status, but also of Digital labels to communicate the sustainability of wine: impact on the emotional and hedonic response of consumers
Special mention to the poster “Nutrition labeling and analysis of consumer perception of food products”
Nutrition labeling and analysis of consumer perception of food products is the title of the work that earned Federica Quintiero (University of Pavia ), Spoke 7 Research Technologist, a Special Mention as Best Scientific Contribution Award at the National Congress ASAND (Scientific Association of Food, Nutrition and Dietetics, Naples, 14-16 March 2024).
The poster is the result of research born from the collaboration of Cinzia Ferraris and Federica Quintiero(University of Pavia) with Luisa Torri and Nazarena Cela (University of Gastronomic Sciences of Pollenzo).
“This project was born from the idea of investigating consumers' attitudes towards nutrition labels and how they influence food choices”, explains Dr. Quintiero. “The data were collected via an online questionnaire, administered between November 2023 and March 2024, with questions relating to personality traits, eating habits socio-demographic characteristics, adherence to the Mediterranean diet and other factors that influence the understanding of the information reported on the label".
At the center of the meeting, the Spoke's skills development initiatives
Involving stakeholders linked to secondary agroindustry issues was the objective of the Stakeholder Committee which was held virtually today, March 22.
At the center of the meeting was a real-time survey dedicated to one of the most important themes for the NODES project: training and skills development initiatives. Thanks to the survey it was possible to identify which, according to the group of stakeholders, are the categories most in need of training linked to the spoke themes and which themes can be developed on. Many ideas and ideas emerged, which will allow us to develop more targeted strategies.
The themes that characterized the meeting, in addition to training, were the results of the Line A/B and Line A Mezzogiorno tenders, an update on the themes of the roadmap of research and innovation. We then talked about the new working groups dedicated to internationalization and entrepreneurial development.
Analisi sensoriale, ricerca e innovazione per un vino sostenibile e digitale
Digitale e sostenibile sono i temi su cui lo Spoke 7 di Nodes sta portando avanti il proprio lavoro di ricerca e questa volta lo sta facendo con una ricerca su come la percezione di un vino possa cambiare se associata a un'idea di sostenibilità. Questo è il cuore della ricerca che una studentessa dell'Università di Scienze Gastronomiche sta portando avanti nell'ambito dei temi dell'agroindustria secondaria.
Per seguire questa ricerca abbiamo partecipato a un test sensoriale realizzato nel laboratorio sensoriale di UNISG. Per scoprire di più su come funzioni il laboratorio e come si possa svolgere un test sensoriale guarda il video!
L’Uovo di Colombo Volume 7. New Food Products from Apple by-products
Dal 4 all’8 marzo, entro la cornice dell’evento dei Polito Design Workshop, si svolgerà la settima edizione dell’Uovo di Colombo, il workshop di “Learning by Food Designing” destinato a studentesse e studenti della Laurea Triennale in Design e Comunicazione e in Design Sostenibile per il Sistema Alimentare del Politecnico di Torino.
Una settimana per rispondere a una delle sfide della transizione ecologica: come valorizzare lo scarto alimentare?
Un workshop di Food Design, tra progetto e fornelli, che parte da un bisogno reale: valorizzare i sottoprodotti dell'agroindustria secondaria realizzando nuovi prodotti edibili. Co-progettare nuovi concept e prototipi di nuovi prodotti alimentari con un approccio di Design With Food attraverso le conoscenze e competenze apprese durante il percorso di formazione.
Un workshop tenuto da Spoke 7 nell'ambito delle iniziative EIT food
Le ricercatrici e i ricercatori dello Spoke 7 hanno partecipato a una giornata organizzata nella sede Unito di Cuneo dall'Università di Torino e dal CEIP - Centro Estero Internazionalizzazione Piemonte nell'ambito delle iniziative di EIT Food.
Il pomeriggio è stato focalizzato a raccontare l'esperienza dello Spoke 7 del progetto NODES. Al workshop, dal titolo Quale innovazione tecnologica, digitale e sostenibile per l'Agri- Food?, hanno partecipato studentesse, studenti e imprese del territorio.
L'incontro è stato introdotto da Mauro Gola (presidente della Camera di commercio di Cuneo). Dario Vallauri (Polo Agrifood MIAC Scpa Cuneo e NODES) ha presentato un intervento dal titolo NODES – Nord Ovest Digitale E Sostenibile: Le linee di azione dello Spoke 7 a supporto della sostenibilità dell’Agrindustria Secondaria.
La presentazione è proseguita con interventi di ricercatori e ricercatrici degli atenei sulle attività condotte da NODES per il comparto agrifoody: Dario Peirone (Dipartimento di Giurisprudenza, Università di Torino e Presidente Ceipiemonte), Danilo Demarchi (Dipartimento di Elettronica e Telecomunicazioni, Politecnico di Torino), Milena Viassone (Dipartimento di Management "Valter Cantino", Università di Torino), Andrea Mahmuti (Dipartimento di Management "Valter Cantino", Università di Torino), Judy Song (Dipartimento di Giurisprudenza, Università di Torino) e Naji Sulaiman (Università degli Studi di Scienze Gastronomiche).
Polo Agrifood porta Spoke 7 a Ecomondo
L’8 Novembre nell’ambito dell’edizione 2023 della fiera Ecomondo si è tenuto un evento dedicato all’innovazione e alla transizione digitale e green nel settore agroalimentare, con un focus specifico sulle traiettorie tecnologiche per la crescita della competitività del Food & Beverage nazionale e per la valorizzazione e tutela dei prodotti Made in Italy.
Al workshop dal titolo Dalla ricerca all’impresa: il ruolo del Cluster CL.A.N. in un'ottica di economia circolare, nell’ambito dei progetti PNRR, organizzato dal Cluster Nazionale Agrifood, è stato invitato tra i relatori il responsabile del Polo AGRIFOOD Dario Vallauri.
L’intervento ha consentito di presentare le attività e i risultati dell’Ecosistema dell’Innovazione NODES e in particolare dello Spoke 7 – Agrindustria Secondaria, di cui il Polo AGRIFOOD è partner. L’evento ha rappresentato un momento di confronto e scambio tra il Cluster CL.A.N. e i rappresentanti di alcune importanti iniziative in ambito agrifood finanziate dai bandi PNRR del MUR e recentemente avviate, per promuovere la trasformazione digitale dei processi produttivi delle imprese agroalimentari in un’ottica di sostenibilità economica, ambientale e sociale.
Tre questionari per sostenere la ricerca in ambito agroindustria secondaria
I gruppi di ricerca dello Spoke 7 hanno messo a punto questionari aperti a tutti i consumatori e le consumatrici. I risultati ottenuti saranno preziosi per definire le future attività della ricerca in ambito agroindustria secondaria.
Le attività di ricerca, sviluppo ed innovazione dello Spoke riguardano tre macro-ambiti, "healthy", "green" e "smart" food, e sono volte principalmente a: sviluppare strategie per spingere le imprese verso la produzione di prodotti alimentari di alta qualità, salutari e sicuri; valorizzare i sottoprodotti della filiera agroalimentare, con l'obiettivo di ottenere produzioni alimentari sostenibili, attraverso l'applicazione dei principi dell'economia circolare, ma anche sviluppando modelli innovativi di comunicazione per incentivare l’adozione di stili di vita e di consumo più sani e sostenibili; sviluppare soluzioni innovative sostenute dai nuovi paradigmi di Industria 4.0 e 5.0 per la trasformazione intelligente, utili al controllo qualità degli alimenti, finalizzate al monitoraggio del processo e ad ottimizzare l’efficienza dell’intera filiera.
Per raggiungere questi obiettivi, è essenziale comprendere le esigenze e le aspettative dei consumatori nei confronti di prodotti ottenuti con ingredienti ad alto valore aggiunto o mediante tecnologie volte a migliorare l'impatto ambientale e il valore nutrizionale.
Per partecipare ai questionari occorre essere maggiorenni ed è sufficiente visitare i seguenti link: RICERCA DI METODI INNOVATIVI E SOSTENIBILI PER LA CONSERVAZIONE DELLA CARNE Un questionario mirato alla raccolta di informazioni sulle preferenze dei consumatori riguardo alle nuove tecnologie per prolungare la durata di conservazione della carne. VALORIZZAZIONE DELLA FILIERA FRUTTICOLA E VITIVINICOLA ATTRAVERSO IL SETTORE DELLA BIRRA ARTIGIANALE Rispondi al nostro questionario ed aiutaci ad esplorare il mondo di nuove birre sostenibili e locali. ETICHETTE ALIMENTARI: COSA CI POSSONO DIRE? Cosa possono rivelarti le etichette alimentari sui prodotti che acquisti e consumi ogni giorno? Partecipa al nostro breve questionario e aiuta chi fa ricerca a comprendere meglio le tue preferenze e aspettative riguardo alle etichette alimentari.
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