A journey into eco-friendly approaches towards super-fruits and vegetables: from sustainable production to the best light regime to waste recycling

The ever-increasing pollution due to the non-renewable energy sources, the progressive deforestation, and other human activities have led to a worldwide global warming and climate change, with irreversible effects on many ecosystems. Therefore, Nations are moving towards greener and more sustainable economic and environmental choices, as evidenced by the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Within this framework, the research group headed by professors Castagna and Ranieri (Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Pisa) is currently studying different eco-friendly technologies to improve the nutritional and nutraceutical quality of agri-food products, extend their shelf-life, and reduce food losses "from field to fork". Among them, the ultraviolet (UV)-B exposure on fruit and vegetable has been found an excellent treatment to increase the content of health-promoting and antioxidant compounds by stimulating the plant secondary metabolism, increasing consequently the resistance to pests and pathogens, and the storage period. Besides, the research group is working also on the application of edible coatings on fresh products, that can prolong the shelf-life and preserve the nutritional quality of the products thanks to their intrinsic antimicrobial and antifungal properties. Moreover, since they can be derived from food industry waste, they perfectly match the circular economy principle.