Innovative solution for the frozen food industry using acoustic waves

The need for this project stems from numerous studies on frozen food systems and the opportunities offered by new technologies for both agricultural producers and consumers.  The project is a response, on the one hand, to the serious problems faced by producers of fresh and frozen fruit and, on the other hand, to the growing market demand and increasing consumer expectations with regard to the quality of frozen fruit.

Growing berries is a difficult process, due to the many factors that affect the final quality of the final product. The fruit is also difficult to transport, requiring special conditions immediately after harvesting (the issue of packaging and storing the fruit before transport) as well as during transport itself. A very problematic issue is the transport to cold stores of the fruit which is particularly susceptible to the development of fungal diseases (including mould and yeast). These problems result in significant number of production batches that do not meet the minimum requirements to allow them to be frozen and require disposal. 

The proposed solution will not only make it possible to obtain a much larger quantity of high-quality products and, in addition,  but the combination of freezing with the use of innovative technology such as the use of  of employing acoustic waves during freezing, which affect the water structure in the fruit cells is a solution that can also significantly develop the frozen fruit market and the possibilities for the use of such fruit.

The proposed project is therefore a direct response to the above-mentioned problems. It involves the use of refrigerated containers and an innovative freezing process directly on the farms, which will limit the development of fungal diseases and reduce food losses, at the same time providing a significantly improved product in the form of frozen raspberries and strawberries, which after defrosting do not differ in quality from fresh fruit. In addition, the use of weather stations in the process will allow the farmer to monitor the condition of the soil, and the growth of the fruit and its quality, in order to obtain supply it for the freezing process at the right best possible moment. The correlation of all these innovative solutions with the digital tool will significantly facilitate the farmer's management managing of the entire process.

The main objective of the operation is to develop and implement an innovative technology for freezing soft fruit using acoustic waves to obtain significantly improved raspberry and strawberry fruit, as well as a new method of organising this process directly on the farm, which in the long term will contribute to improving the quality of agricultural products and the environment.       

Project activities

The implementation of the main objective will be enabled by measures to achieve specific goals:

1. The development and implementation of an innovation in the new technology for soft fruit production - the novelty of the solution developed within the framework of the project is the use in the process of freezing soft fruit of refrigerated containers additionally equipped with modules supporting the freezing process with acoustic waves directly on the farm or group of farms. The refrigerated containers will reduce the time elapsing from the harvesting of the fresh fruit to its final freezing, which is crucial for preserving the nutritional properties of the fruit and the quality of the frozen product. Assisting the process with acoustic waves will enable the control of the water crystallisation process, which is a major factor affecting the shape, quality and taste of the fruit after thawing. The operation also envisages the use of weather stations, which will allowing the monitoring of various factors affecting the growth of the fruit and contribute to an increase in the quality of the crop and thus a higher quality of the frozen fruit. In addition, correlating the innovative process with a digital tool (an application) that can be used directly by farmers to control fruit growth, the freezing process and subjected to final testing in real conditions is envisaged.
2. The development and implementation of an innovation for a significantly improved product covered by Annex I to the TFEU - the assumption is that the use of acoustic waves in the freezing process will make it possible to control the process of water crystallisation in the fruit during freezing, essentially affecting its organoleptic characteristics. The implementation of the innovative freezing technology will allow to obtain higher quality products, fully retaining their shape and flavour, and to limit the problem of the product's weight loss during the thawing process, resulting in  a frozen fruit (after thawing) significantly similar in quality after thawing to the fresh fruit.
3. The development and implementation of an innovation in the form of a significantly improved organisational method for the production of soft fruit - a novelty on the domestic market will be the freezing of fruit directly on the farm, using high-quality refrigerated containers additionally equipped with a module using acoustic waves. This solution is a direct response to the numerous problems faced by farmers with transporting, in particular, soft fruit to collection points or directly to cold stores. This solution will also allow farmers to increase their competitiveness on the soft fruit market.

The main benefits of the project

The key outcome of the project will be the development and implementation of an innovative process for freezing soft fruit (strawberry and raspberry) supported by taking advantage of acoustic waves. 

The main benefit of the implementation is to reduce the occurrence of  the reduction of problematic factors in the production process of frozen soft fruit, which include issues related to maintaining the high quality of the input product - fresh fruit, which is highly exposed susceptible to mechanical damage and fungal infections. 

An important A significant result of the project will be significantly highly improved products - frozen strawberries and raspberries with enhanced sensory qualities. The implementation of the innovative technology of freezing soft fruit with the use of acoustic waves will allow for the modification of the shape and size of the emerging ice crystals, which in addition to the quality of the input product (fresh fruit), has have a significant impact on the final quality of the product received by the consumer. 

The innovative product (a minimum of one of the tested varieties for each fruit) will be characterised by: 

• Significantly higher sensory quality compared to a conventionally frozen product (IQF).
• Significantly Considerably less water leakage (drip loss) after thawing compared to a conventionally frozen product (IQF) after storage.
• Better microbiological quality.
• Not lower vitamin C content than in the conventionally frozen product (IQF) after storage.

The organisational change in the production process is another significant result of the project. The use of refrigerated containers directly on the farm or group of farms located in close proximity is a novelty on a national scale, introducing a new quality to the frozen fruit production process. The key benefit of the result  it is a significant reduction in production losses due to incorrect storage and transport of fresh fruit, which has a direct impact on the quality of the frozen product.

Another result of the operation project will be the construction development of a dedicated application within the project to for managing and monitoring the freezing process and manage operating the control panel of the freezing process in acoustic waves containers using acoustic waves. The benefit of the result is the possibility for It will allow the farmer to control the process remotely, which will optimise the process and enable a quick response to ensure the high quality of the final product. The application developed to support the process will also take into account the results cognizance of the data obtained from weather stations, which will allowing the monitoring of various factors influencing the growth of the fruit, contributing to an increase in improvement of the quality of the crop and therefore to a higher quality fruit.

Practice summary

The project entitled Innovative Solution for the Frozen Food Industry Using Acoustic Waves will support the production of frozen agricultural products, which is a rapidly growing industry with significant potential.

The main premise of the operation is the implementation of an innovative technology and the development of a new way of organising the production process of frozen fruit (strawberries and raspberries) aimed at efficient use of resources - reducing fresh fruit production losses by approximately 10% (source: Bio Berry Sp. z o.o. LLC own data) through the use of refrigerated containers directly on the farm or group of farms, allowing the transportation of fresh fruit and the waiting time for freezing to be minimised. These are the main elements of the production process crucial to the final quantity of fresh fruit allowing it to be frozen its freezing. Production losses due to mechanical damage to the fruit and its contamination by micro-organisms can be as high as 30% of the batch. In addition to the highly problematic issue of food waste in the economy, this is also a significant loss of key inputs for the farmer, i.e. water, natural fertilisers, and plant protection products and fuel, used in the production process, which have a major impact on the quality condition of the environment. Therefore, such an action solution will have a direct impact on increasing the productivity of farms and their competitiveness on the market of soft fruit producers. The innovative approach proposed within the framework of this project, both in terms of to both production technology and organisation of the production process, will have a significant impact on limiting emissions and reducing the carbon footprint of activities aimed at in agricultural production. 

Thanks to the implementation of the innovations proposed in the project, it will be possible to improve the economic performance of the farmers involved in the process by significantly reducing production losses, as well as to participate in the sale of frozen fruit of a quality incomparably better to than products currently available on the market. The technology developed under the operation in the project will therefore contribute to increasing the market share of healthy, organic and high-quality agricultural products. 

The introduction of innovative solutions for the technology and organisation of frozen fruit production is particularly important for ensuring a sustainable food supply. Frozen Freezing fruit and vegetables are recognised as is considered to be one of the best methods of food preservation, which has been gaining popularity among consumers in recent years, especially in view of the growing awareness of food quality and the zero-waste and low-waste trends. Improved frozen fruit technology will contribute to a stable and sustainable food supply, which will have with better quality parameters compared to products currently on the market. Improved food quality will contribute to improved human health.
Looking for new solutions to help protect the environment, especially in terms of reducing CO2 emissions, is now one of the main focuses objectives of developed economies.

The solution proposed in the project, i.e. the use of refrigerated containers directly on farms, will make a significant contribution to reducing the transport of products, influencing resulting in the reduction of the carbon footprint. With the traditional system, when strawberries or raspberries are harvested, the fruit is transported to the cold store on average every other day.  With the use of refrigerated containers, in which the fruit is frozen immediately after picking and stored, transport can be reduced to once a week. Given that there is usually more than one farm specialising in soft fruit production in a given area and that farms cooperate with each other to form producer groups or purchasing points, placing such a container at a point where local producers will systematically deliver fruit also reduces transport of fruit to the cold store. It is important for the fruit to be chilled and/or frozen as soon as possible after picking, because this is the only way we can ensure good product quality and limit the development of micro-organisms which cause spoilage, e.g. due to leakage, lack of ventilation during storage between picking and delivery to the cold store. 

A second aspect that has a positive impact on the environmental effect of the project is the reduction in energy consumption of the cooling process. The traditional technology used to date (fluidised-bed freezer) is associated with requires an energy input of 375 kWh for each tonne of product being cooled. The proposed technology reduces this to 172 kWh/t. With a planned annual production of 670 tonnes of strawberries and 740 tonnes of raspberries, the company's energy consumption will be reduced by 286 MWh and the associated CO2 emissions by 213 tonnes.
In total, taking into account the positive effects of the reduction in transport work frequency and the improved energy efficiency of the cooling process, the company will reduce its energy demand by 314 MWh, which will be associated with the avoidance of 272 tonnes of lower the CO2 emissions by 272 tonnes. The energy intensity consumption of the freezing process will be reduced by 19.7 kWh per tonne of fruit while greenhouse gas emissions by 42.2 kg CO2 per tonne.

Additional comments

Current methods of freezing fruit and vegetables, despite their continuous constant development, are still characterised affected by a certain degree of imperfection. This is particularly evident in the case of freezing soft fruit, which loses its sensory and quality qualities qualitative properties after defrosting. The reason for this is a very high water content, which accounts for more than 90% of the plant tissue, accompanied by the delicate structure of the fruit. The effects of water crystallisation in frozen products are is a complex issue. After thawing, the fruit loses its shape, flavour, colour and a large amount of water. This also affects their use its fitness for further processing - the large amount of water crystals makes further processing of the frozen fruit difficult and affects results in a lower quality of the final product. The industry's response to the above challenges described above is research into new technologies for freezing fruit and vegetables, including the use of acoustic waves. The implementation of such a solution on the domestic market will allow for an increase in the quality of the product, providing tangible economic benefits.