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Free fruit at work induces lifestyle changes

 
The ‘Fruit at Work’ study in ISAFRUIT was the first study to investigate if the general health and diet among employees can be affected by offering free fruit at work. For 18 weeks, 186 employees in a government office in the UK were offered 2 pieces of fruit per day for free, while a control group of 165 employees from the same workplace did not get free fruit. Measurements of health parameters such as BMI, fat percent and blood pressure were carried out together with dietary assessments to find out if the free fruit made a difference. It turned out that it did. Compared to the control group, employees receiving fruit had made several health and dietary changes, as part of a healthier lifestyle by the end of the study. Thus, simple changes in the work place seem to be a promising way to increase general public health. Employers could also benefit as providing free fruit at work could increase employee satisfaction and potentially reduce the number of sick days. If you are interested in more information, the results from the study are currently in preparation for publication.

Highlights from the ISAFRUIT roundtable at Fruit Logistica in Berlin

Mike Knowles editor of Eurofruit Magazine chaired a roundtable event where ISAFRUIT researchers Jos Bartels, Lars Ove Dragsted, Ronan Gormley and Joan Bonany presented some of their initial results. The highlights also include the Mr Fruitness project, a joint initiative between EU and CSO (Italian marketing and research organisation), aiming to increase fruit consumption among children. 

 

Predicting peach quality using light

This video features the prototype of a machine for online Near Infra Red (NIR) measurements of peach quality. NIR-measurements is a non-destructive way to predict quality parameters, such as ripeness and internal damage before peaches are distributed to consumers. The machine has been developed as part of a collaboration between the Department of Fruit tree & Woody Plant Science, University of Bologna and SINTELEIA, Italy, with funding from the ISAFRUIT project. For more information see 'Artificial nose can monitor fruit quality' below.

 

Last news from Lisbon

Artificial nose can monitor fruit quality

 

When fruit ripens one of the most considerable changes that occur are changes in texture and development of flavours. It would be a major advantage for the future supermarket quality of fruits, if it was possible to monitor the flavour and texture of every single fruit before it is purchased by consumers. Even though this might sound unrealistic, research in ISAFRUIT has demonstrated that non-destructive methods that are fast enough to accomplish this task already exist. One of them is Near Infrared (NIR) Spectroscopy, which works by radiating fruits with light of certain wavelengths. Depending on the composition of the fruit, it will absorb the light differently and by looking at this pattern, it is possible to determine parameters such as firmness, sugar content, ripeness and the presence of diseases in the core. Another instrument with a similar potential is an artificial nose that can be used to detect fruit flavour (source: Presentation S11.044 by A. Bozzi Nising, IHC 2010 Download Abstract).

 

  

 

Young people eat less fruit

The results from a large ISAFRUIT consumer survey were published today in the Journal Appetite. It revealed that compared to older age groups, young people eat much less of the most common fruits in Europe; apple and peach. Of the 4900 consumers surveyed, 54.5 % of respondents aged 61-70 reported eating more than 5 apples per week. In the age group 15-35 years, the corresponding number was only 17.4 %. For peaches, a similar tendency was observed, with 35.6 % of the oldest respondents and only 15.7 % of the youngest eating more than 5 peaches per week. The survey also demonstrated that men are eating significantly lower amounts of apples and peaches than women and are more liable to avoid these fruits altogether (Read the full press release: Download Young people eat less fruit).

ISAFRUIT news from Lisbon

A House of Quality for fruit revealed

 

Ivo van der Lans presents the ISAFRUIT House of Quality.

 

The ISAFRUIT ‘Vasco da Gama’ process has brought together social and natural scientists within the project and the final result of their work was revealed in a workshop at the IHC2010 last week. Back in March 2008, when the process started, it was named after Vasco da Gama after the name of the meeting room where the first meeting between the involved scientists took place. Ironically enough, the product of the work, an ISAFRUIT House of Quality for fruit, was presented in Lisbon, the city where the same Vasco da Gama started his first voyage half a millennium ago. The ISAFRUIT House of Quality links consumer demands for fruit to the results from technical pre- and post-harvest fruit studies. You can read about the method on the website www.go.warwick.ac.uk/vasco (Workshop 06 Download Abstract)

ISAFRUIT news from Lisbon

Fruit perception in West Balkan countries differ from Western Europe

 

A study carried out in 6 West Balkan countries shows that fruit consumption and perception in these countries are very different from Western Europe. A normal intake of fruit is considered to be as high as 400 g; much higher than intakes in the Mediterranean area. Interestingly, also the characteristics of fruits emphasised differ considerably as the highest priority found in West Balkan was that fruits should be free from pesticides whereas results from studies in Western Europe clearly indicate that taste is the most important. In general, the appearance of fruit and convenience were rated lower by consumers in the West Balkan countries, where most fruit is consumed at home and more fruit is home grown. The results found are based on 30 in-depth interviews carried out in each of the countries: Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, FYRoM, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia. Interestingly, a study like this suggests that work currently carried out to develop convenient processed fruit products in Western Europe would probably be irrelevant for the West Balkan market. Other strategies should be developed to increase fruit consumption in these countries (source: Presentation S11.012 by S. Sijtsema, IHC2010 Download Abstract).

ISAFRUIT news from Lisbon

Your genes can reveal what you like

 

Sensory science is a very complex research field aiming to describe how we perceive food products in order to understand and maybe even predict what we like and dislike. It is known that our perception of taste is affected by cultural factors, experiences with similar food products and tastes earlier in life, the situation where we eat the food and not least our genes. Some groups of humans are not able to perceive certain flavours while others can react very strongly to the same flavours. If such characteristics for what foods we like can be described, it might be possible to develop products in accordance with different genetically based sensory perceptions in the future. Research has already been done with flavours in fruits by injecting artificial flavours like smoked salmon, tropical fruits and chocolate into apples before they were presented to consumers. Whether any of these were successful innovations was not revealed (source: Presentation S11.053 by F. R. Harker, IHC2010 Download Abstract).   

 

ISAFRUIT news live from Lisbon

Shading apple trees has same effect as chemical treatment

To obtain apples of a desired size, commercial growers must thin out the trees in the orchard every year by removing some of the very young apples. This procedure assures that the remaining apples on the tree are provided with sufficient amounts of energy and nutrients. In current integrated production excess fruits are removed by chemical treatment but ISAFRUIT researchers have now demonstrated that exactly the same effect can be obtained by covering the tree canopies with a net. The net shades the trees and thereby decreases their ability to produce energy. This lack of energy induces a natural fruit drop. There is still more research to do to determine the optimum time of shading and the shading procedure is currently too expensive to compete with chemical treatments. However, the method is a promising alternative to the use of chemicals. In addition, one of the attendees at the presentation pointed out that it might be possible to develop a shading net that also protects against insect pests (Source: presentation S11.042 by M. Zibordi, IHC 2010 Download Abstract).

ISAFRUIT news live from Lisbon

We know what our pears should look like

   

South Africa is a main producer and exporter of pears. Varieties produced spans a wide range of shapes and colours such as green, rusty, yellow, blushed, purple and red. As high as 80 % of the total production ends up on European markets, so a study has been conducted to find out how Europeans want their pears to look. Surprisingly, the result was very clear. The traditional pear shape was strongly preferred to the more round shape and the most popular colours were green, yellow and lightly blushed pears. As the survey also showed that consumers are willing to pay more for pears they like the look of, the study provides valuable information for South African farmers. (source: Presentation S11.015 by W.J. Steyn, IHC2010 Download Abstract)