TECHNICAl Tour S10

Day Tour S10: Postharvest and horticultural products quality

on May 14th, 2024

09:00 am - Departure from House of Parliament to the visit site

A bilingual tour guide will accompany participants during their trip.

09:30 – 11.30 Visit The Research Center for Studies of Food Quality and Agricultural Products, USAMV Bucharest

The Research Center for Studies of Food Quality and Agricultural Products is the newest and most advanced research infrastructure of the University of Agronomic Sciences and Veterinary Medicine of Bucharest. This center is a cutting-edge, state-of-the-art research center for R&D activities, equipped at the highest international standards, designed with facilities that ensure a multidisciplinary approach for the food-related study topics and also for reducing the risk of environmental pollution related subjects. The research center integrates facilities that address both postharvest and horticultural products quality, as the laboratories are addressing aspects from experimental field to the end-products. The quality analysis performed here includes physical, chemical, sensory and nutritional assessments that are usually done to ensure food safety, consumer acceptance and compliance with standards.

The center has 13 laboratories: Physico-chemical analysis, Post-harvest technologies, Diagnosis and plant protection, Plant physiology, Molecular plant biology, Molecular plant physiology, Agrochemistry, Integrated fruit growing, Microscopy and plant anatomy, Molecular virology, Plant micropropagation, Management, IT and econometry, Sensorial analysis, and a fully automated Research Greenhouse-block,  with multiple self-control functions and accommodates the latest equipment (www.qlab.ro)

There are four main research lines that set the core of the research activity: (1) the correlations between the effects of biotic and abiotic stress on the horticultural species and the crop productivity technologies, with implications on the quality of plant products; (2) the tree, studied as a complex production system and the examination of integrated orchards as sustainable ecosystems; (3) the analysis of the plant products quality based on the relationship structure-features at a gene-protein-metabolites level for the selection of variants with exceptional economic value, and (4) Biodiversity – enhancing conservation and sustainable use of natural resources.

A significant technological advancement in postharvest research that is focusing on crop handling, storage, and transportation after harvest is represented using controlled atmosphere (CA) chambers, which regulate air composition to extend the storage life of perishable produce. While these facilities are increasingly common globally, their presence in Eastern and central Europe is limited. The research center is one of the very few such facilities, owing 12 CA chambers, along with 2 cold rooms, that can be individually controlled, making USAMV of Bucharest, Romania, to stand out as a premier institution equipped with such research capabilities in Romania.

11:30 – 12.30 Campus and specific objective visit, USAMV Bucharest

12:30 – 14.00 Lunch in the Campus Restaurant of the University of Agronomic Sciences and Veterinary Medicine of Bucharest

14:00 – 15:00 Departure to the second visit site

15:00 – 16.30 Visit Moara Domnească Research and Development Station for Agronomy -storage facilities

Moara Domnească Farm is one of the USAMV's teaching and research stations, just 15km away from Bucharest. It’s a little piece of heaven, where USAMV students get top practical training. The didactic farm includes 315 ha field crop farm, a livestock and fishery sector - 19 ha of water surface, 2 cattle sheds, a fruit cold store with controlled temperature, humidity and atmosphere for the storage of fruit with a capacity of 900 tons, a modern poultry breeding farm (geese, ducks), a mansion where Tolstoy lived and many other modernly equipped premises for the accommodation and training of future specialists.

Please register before 31 March 2024! The technical tours have limited places.

*50 seats available

**Contact person -Liliana Bădulescu +40745368989; liliana.badulescu@usamv.ro

Program S06

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