Research Unit in Postharvest Technology - UNIFG

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Research Unit in Postharvest Technology - UNIFG

Research Unit on Postharvest Technology at the Department of Agriculture, Food, Naturale resources, and Engineering (DAFNE) of the University of Foggia, Italy

The research unit focuses on relationships between physiological and qualitative attributes and equipments/technologies for postharvest handling and storage of intact and fresh-cut produce.

11/08/2026

POSTHARVEST TECHNOLOGY OF TABLE GRAPES: PART II

Second part of Prof. Giancarlo Colelli tour took place last week, meeting producers and marketers of table grapes in several locations in Puglia and Basilicata, Italy.
The meetings covered a number of issues related to postharvest performance and main technological issues involved with quality of the product after harvest, taking advantage of the on-going harvest season.
Also in this case meetings were organized by Sun World International and coordinated by local Quality Assurance Manager Bartolomeo D’Aprile and took place in Noicattaro, Scanzano Ionico, Castellaneta, and Rutigliano.

10/08/2026

POSTHARVEST UNIFG ARTICLE ALERT: RESEARCH ON EARLY DETECTION OF CHILLING INJURY DURING STORAGE OF ZUCCHINI SQUASH PUBLISHED

Download it for free here: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodcont.2026.112489

Russo L., Fatchurrahman D., Rosiello G., Fathi-Najafabadi A., Amodio M.L., Colelli G. 2027. Hyperspectral imaging reveals physiological changes associated with chilling injury in zucchini (Cucurbita pepo L.) during postharvest storage. Food Control 192, 112489. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodcont.2026.112489

As part of Lucia Russo’s PhD thesis, under the supervision of Prof. Maria Luisa Amodio, this study evaluates hyperspectral imaging (HSI) as a rapid, nondestructive tool to classify fruit based on their storage temperature history. Chilled fruit exhibited significant structural and compositional alterations, specifically a marked reduction in firmness and a progressive increase in relative electrolyte leakage, indicating compromised cellular integrity. The fruit also showed increased total phenol content and antioxidant activity as a defense response. Among the evaluated algorithms, the PLS-DA model yielded the most stable performance. VIS-NIR region (400–1000 nm) proved superior capability for early diagnosis, achieving a prediction accuracy of 98% after 3 days of age, when visible CI incidence was only 20%, reaching 100% prediction accuracy after 10 days of storage, effectively capturing the cumulative physiological degradation.
Future work should focus on validating these findings across different cultivars and real postharvest scenarios, as well as on developing cost-effective multispectral sensors suitable for high- throughput industrial integration to monitor postharvest quality and help reduce food waste. Anyone interested in collaborating to pursue these objectives please get in touch with us.
We are ready for it!!!

15/07/2026

SYNERGISTIC COOPERATION WITH CHIANG MAI UNIVERSITY CONTINUES

Complementary collaboration with other Institutions has always been a main drive for Postharvest UniFG scientists. In this case our interaction with colleagues of Chainga-May University (Proff. Sarana Sommano and Tibet Tangapao's group) produced another published article. This study evaluated the effects of biochar derived from an invasive aquatic w**d on growth traits, biochemical responses, glycoside accumulation, and the gene expression in Stevia grown under different water-holding capacities.

Sunanta P., Norkum ai P., Teerakitchotikan P., Tangpao T., Linh N.V., Khang L.T.P., Colelli G. and Sommano S.R. 2026. Invasive Asian water moss (Salvinia cucullata) biochar modulates selected steviol glycoside biosynthesisrelated gene expression and drought-associated physiological responses in Stevia. Front. Plant Sci. 17:1859834. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2026.1859834

07/07/2026

GIUSEPPE LANDED IN GUANGZHOU, CHINA
Giuseppe Rosiello, a PhD student tutored by Prof. Giancarlo Colelli, initiated an important 5-month research period abroad in the Academy of Contemporary Food Engineering (ACFE), South China University of Technology (Guangzhou, PRC).
Last week Giuseppe held an introductory meeting with Prof. Jun-Hu Cheng and his group giving a talk on "Past Results and Future Perspectives on the Application of in-package cold plasma to preserve minimally processed fruits and vegetables" in order to share the achievements already reached by his recent work in Foggia and to plan more in detail the experimental activities for the next 5 months.
Our sincere thanks go to Prof. Jun-Hu Cheng, ACFE, and SCUT for the warm welcome and to Prof. Da-Wen Sun for triggering the initiative.

05/07/2026

POSTHARVEST TECHNOLOGY OF TABLE GRAPES DISCUSSED IN MEETINGS WITH PRODUCERS

Prof. Giancarlo Colelli met producers and marketers of table grapes in several locations in Puglia, Italy, covering a number of issues related to postharvest performance and main technological issues involved with quality of the product after harvest. The meetings were organized by Sun World International and coordinated by local Quality Assurance Manager Bartolomeo D’Aprile and took place in Trani, Barletta, Noicattaro, Turi, Locorotondo, and Castellaneta.

04/07/2026

Farewell Mahshad!!!

29/06/2026

NEW ARTICLE PUBLISHED WITH OUR RESULTS

First results on the use of indirect in-package surface cold plasma to enhance microbial control and extend shelf-life of table grapes was just published by a prestigious scientific Journal and can be dowloaded here: https://doi.org/10.3389/frfst.2026.1826481

Rosiello G., Simonelli R., Fatchurrahman D., Amodio M.L., Sommano S.R., and Colelli G. (2026) Application of indirect in-package surface dielectric barrier discharge cold plasma for post-harvest storage of table grapes. Front. Food Sci. Technol. 6:1826481. doi: 10.3389/frfst.2026.1826481

The work was part of the PhD thesis that Giuseppe Rosiello is carrying out in our lab, also in collaboration with SAIM Postharvest Technologies, and which will also include applications on other commodities.

25/06/2026

VERY DISTINGUISHED GUESTS AT POSTHARVEST

The Workshop on "Workshop on Non Destructive Applications and Class Modelling Strategies In Agriculture" took place in our Department last Tuesday. Invited speakers included Prof. Cho Byoung-Kwan (Chungnam National University, Korea) with a talk on "Spectral imaging application for quality and safety measurement for agricultural materials", Prof. Federico Marini (Università La Sapienza, Roma) with a talk on "Class-modeling strategies for spectroscopic data", and Dr. Danial Fatchurrahman (Università di Foggia) with a talk on " Non Destructive Quaiity Evaluation and Authentication of Fruits and Vegetables".

Scienze Agrarie, Alimenti, Risorse Naturali e Ingegneria - UniFg

23/06/2026

POSTHARVEST UNIFG SCIENTISTS PRESENTED RESULTS IN SWEDEN

Dr. Danial Fatchurrahman and Dr. Ayoub Fathi, representing the Research Unit in Postharvest Technology, University of Foggia (UNIFG), presented their oral communications at the IASIM Conference 2026 (International Conference on Spectral Imaging). Dr. Fatchurrahman presented “Spectral information combined with physical attributes for the prediction of blackheart defective pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) fruit,” authored by D. Fatchurrahman, L. Russo, Maria L. Amodio, and G. Colelli; Dr. Fathi Najafabadi presented “Assessing the quality of packaged cherry tomatoes using two hyperspectral imaging systems,” authored by A. Fathi Najafabadi, M. Matloob, D. Fatchurrahman, G. Colelli, and M.L. Amodio.
Their presentations highlight the potential of hyperspectral imaging and integrated spectral analysis for non-destructive postharvest quality assessment and fruit defect detection. It was a pleasure to represent our research unit at such an inspiring international scientific event.

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