Grant recipient

Kirsi Mikkonen

Revealing mechanisms of post processing senescence to secure the supply of high-quality vegetables for the planetary diet (VegeSense)

Grant amount: DKK 10,000,000

Kirsi Mikkonen says: “A rapidly urbanizing society poses an increased need for fresh and nutritious vegetables of high quality and extended shelf-life. Currently, up to 50% of produced vegetables are discarded before being consumed, which burdens the environment and increases CO2 emissions unnecessarily. The financial losses caused by this wastage in Europe and the US total around €200 billion annually. Reducing vegetable wastage, by extending their shelf-life, could decrease their price and increase their consumption. The main reasons for vegetable waste are over-ripening, browning, and tissue degradation. Despite their major importance, the detailed mechanisms of vegetable deterioration after processing and packaging are poorly understood. The VegeSense project will identify the key metabolites involved in this process, giving a greater understanding of these mechanisms leading to vegetable quality deterioration. This will enable the advancement of packaging technologies to extend vegetable shelf-life.”