Pulsed electric field technology (PEF) represents an innovative solution for sustainable processing in order to improve the competitiveness of the European food industry. Currently, in spite of the many advantages deriving from the introduction of the PEF technology in the food industry and the existence of different PEF manufactures at industrial-scale, applications of PEF in the food industry is still limited. FieldFOOD project is based on a preliminary analysis addressed to identify the bottlenecks that cause such limited application with the objective of providing SME companies (food producers, pulse power producers, equipment manufactures) with a clear competitive edge, as well as opportunities for growing, diversification and job creation but also of responding to consumer demand for foods with fresh characteristics or novel foods that contribute to individual health and wellbeing. This broad objective will be achieved by: a) a systematic process analysis of different specific applications (fruit juice processing, tomato product processing, winemaking, olive oil extraction and cider-making) for a successful integration of the PEF technology in order to replace or complement existing traditional food processing technologies and b) the design of modular, portable, low-cost pulse generators. The main deliverable of FieldFOOD project will be to validate and demonstrate, in co-operation with SMEs, implementation of modular, portable, low-cost pulse generators for different applications. The efforts needed to introduce this technology in the food industry for different applications are necessary to be multidisciplinary. Therefore, to be efficient and successful, strong links needs to be established between research institutions with a well-established expertise in PEF technology (4 partners), manufactures of PEF generator (1 SME partner) and food companies (5 SMEs partners) that represent the final users of the technology.

The increasing consumers’ interest in minimally processed foods, with high nutritional values and more “fresh-like” characteristics is pushing food processors towards the search for viable alternatives with respect to already settled procedures used for Mass Transfer processes. Through the PUREJUICE project, Energy Pulse Systems (EPS) will validate the implementation of a novel Pulsed Electric Fields (PEF) system within the juice production lines of different fruit matrices: pear, red fruits/berries, tropical fruit, stone fruit and grapes. PUREJUICE constitutes a promising alternative or complement to the standard enzymatic maceration stage for the pre-treatment of raw materials in fruit juice processing. Starting from remarkable results obtained with the EPULSUS technology applied to “natural” apple juice production within the industrial facility of a global producer, PUREJUICE aims to prove the technological and economic feasibility of the application of the Apple solution to the processing of other fruits. The technological feasibility evaluation will be carried out by analysing the current production process for the selected fruits, followed by the experimental validation of the performances of PUREJUICE with sample batches collected from the customers, and the estimation of the impact of the PUREJUICE implementation on the overall process. In parallel, the economic feasibility study will be focused on ensuring that the PUREJUICE technology represents a sustainable business opportunity for EPS. Our objective is to manufacture and distribute the new system, with the purpose to provide customer companies operating in natural fruit juice processing with a clear competitive edge through the achievement of three main goals: 1) extraction yield increase, 2) enhancement of nutritional/organoleptic properties of processed material, 3) improvement of economic/environmental sustainability of the entire process.