Development of a scientific infrastructure for the study, conservation and exploitation of the biodiversity of the microbial communities of the traditional fermented foods and wines of the Peloponnese region

Co-financed by Greece and the European Union

"Supplementation and expansion of the research infrastructure of the Department of Food Science and Technology of the University of Peloponnese, with the aim of developing innovative tools for the certification of the authenticity of agricultural products and food of the Peloponnese Region" (MIS 5060299)

"Peloponnisos 2014-2020" Operational Program (transferred to the "Peloponnisos 2021-2027" EP with OPS code MIS:6001408)

European Regional Development Fund (ERDF)

Budget: €400,000.00

Description

At European and global level there is a requirement for the authenticity of agricultural products and foodstuffs placed on the market, i.e. the label statement must perfectly match the content of the product including both its composition and its geographical origin.

In the Peloponnese Region there is a significant number of agricultural products and food which are internationally renowned for their excellent quality. Among these products, several have been designated as a Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) or as a Protected Geographical Indication (PGI), since their quality and characteristics are mainly or exclusively due to the special geographical environment that includes the inherent natural as well as human factors. Essentially, as PDO or PGI agricultural products and foods are recognized that have a long history of production and consumption in a specific region, thus shaping a culinary culture and tradition in it but contributing to its economic and social development. Also, these local products can play an important role in the tourism development of each place, while PDO and PGI products are often considered to be of high quality and nutritional value. For the above reasons, PDO and PGI products are legally protected at national and international level.

The PDO and PGI products of the Peloponnese Region have a prominent position in the domestic and international market and are the target of counterfeiting by other lower quality products produced in areas other than the institutionalized areas of the Peloponnese. The need to improve the competitiveness of PDO and PGI products of plant or animal origin produced in the Peloponnese has been identified in many economic and technical studies of the Region. To date, in the Peloponnese Region, olive oil, wines and cheeses from different regions have been recognized as PDO or PGI.

In the past, interventions have been proposed to ensure authenticity due to the local production limitation of the products. Despite this, the real tools of the control mechanisms for certifying the authenticity of these products fall short of the real needs for the protection of producers and the control of counterfeiting with objective methods. It is obvious that systematic scientific research is needed to create real tools for certifying the authenticity of PDO and PGI products based on modern analytical methods. It is therefore necessary to have fast, accurate, easy-to-apply and low-cost methodologies, so that the authenticity of products can be checked at all stages of their production and distribution processes.

The proposed project aims to apply different spectroscopic techniques as well as proteomics methods to create standards from PDO and PGI agricultural products and foods of the Peloponnese Region, but also from homologous products from different geographical areas, which after statistical processing will lead to computational tools for certifying the authenticity of the former.