Type. Public-Private partnership

Funding. This PhD project is funded by TKI Dinalog, Sensitech, Coop Group, Driscoll's of Europe

Duration. 3 Years (2023-2025). 

Collaborations. Sensitech, Wageningen University (WUR), Wageningen Food & Biobased Research, Coop Group, Driscoll's of Europe

Contact. Thijs Defraeye (supervisor).

Staff. Elisabeth Tobler

Project background

Strawberries are delicious fruits, but also highly perishable after harvest. In Europe, an estimated 30% of all strawberries are lost or wasted along the supply chain or at the consumer.

With the hygrothermal data, obtained from sensors that are placed in every transport, we aim to create a physics-based digital twin system that translates real-time sensor data during refrigerated transport by trailer – in a mechanistic way – into actionable fruit quality metrics such as remaining shelf-life, mass loss, microbiological spoilage, or condensation. Hence, the quality evolution of each fruit can be monitored and predicted along their transport in the cold chain. The additional information from the digital twin helps in the planning and coordination of logistics processes along the fruit supply chain.

By using a digital twin, this project aims to maximize strawberry quality for the consumer, while reducing food losses, (energy) costs, and greenhouse gas emissions.

Publications

Tobler E., Shrivastava C., Turan D., Pereira da Silva F., Verreydt C., Lukasse L., Defraeye T. (2024), Optimizing ventilated packaging design for strawberries: Assessing the impact on fruit quality from farm to retailer using physics-based modeling, Postharvest Biology and Technology 214, 112949 DOI