Project “Hortovitalis”

This is one of the Innovation and Development Projects in which we have actively participated.

HORTOVITALIS (“Improvement of food quality and safety in pre and post-harvest through the use of biocontrol tools), is an experimental development project that aims, as well as during the post-harvest period, to carry out hygiene and treatment processes based on the use of emerging technologies free of synthetic chemicals and chlorine, such as washing with electrolyzed water, UV-C radiation and the nebulization treatment of biological control agents and antimicrobial plant extracts.

The project has developed in a space of 27 months from 2015, and is being executed by 4 entities:

• Miguel García Sanchez E Hijos S.A (Coordinator)
• DOMCA, S.A.
• Ingro Maquinaria S.L.
  Agrícola El Bosque S.L.

Which will have the collaboration of 3 Research Organizations among which are:

• Tecnova Technology Center
• Functional Food Development Research Center Foundation (CIDAF)
• University of Granada.

This project is framed within the FEDER INNTERCONECTA 2015 call, subsidized by the CDTI, supported by the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness and co-financed with Structural Funds of the European Union within the “Operational Program for Smart Growth 2014-2020”.

 

Press release

FINALIZATION OF THE FEDER-INNTERCONECTA 2015 PROJECT – HORTOVITALIS: IMPROVEMENT OF FOOD QUALITY AND SAFETY IN PRE AND POST-HARVEST THROUGH THE USE OF BIOCONTROL TOOLS AND EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES.

The HORTOVITALIS project focuses on improving food quality and safety in Pre and Postharvest through the use of biocontrol tools and emerging technologies. 4 companies, Miguel García Sanchez e Hijos, as coordinator, DOMCA, INGRO and Agrícola El Bosque have participated in the execution of the project. It also has the participation of the University of Granada, and two technology centers CIDAF and TECNOVA.

This project was selected within the call for R&D FEDER Innterconecta 2015, subsidized by the CDTI, supported by the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness and co-financed with Structural Funds of the European Union within the << Operational Program for Smart Growth 2014-2020 >>.

To achieve the proposed objectives, there was an execution period of 29 months that began in October 2015 and ended in February 2018, for which it was endowed with a budget of more than one million euros.

The results obtained have been very positive, reducing the incidence of pathogenic microorganisms in the crops analyzed after the application of the new treatments and systems developed in the HORTOVITALIS project. The following achievements stand out:

In Preharvest:

• Reduction of the microbial load by 75% in cherry tomatoes and 65% in blackberries, so that the risk of microbial infections during cultivation is significantly reduced.
• Production increase of around 10%, which also implied an increase in plant length and thickness close to 20%.

In Postharvest:

• 40% reduction of the microbial load in cherry tomatoes and blackberries. In the case of Avocado, the presence of microorganisms decreased by 25%, these fruits also showed a significant improvement in external color and internal texture.

The good work of all companies and their involvement has been the fundamental pillar of the HORTOVITALIS project. The constant collaboration of all the members involved in the project has been essential to achieve the proposed objectives and carry out the work carried out to a successful conclusion.