Implementation of PEF treatment at real-scale tomatoes processing considering LCA methodology as an innovation strategy in the agri-food sector

In Europe, science and innovation are boosting the agri-food sector and, in parallel, are helping to decrease greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) and European dependency on non-renewable resources. Currently, it is well-known that this sector contributes to the consumption of energy and material resources, causing significant environmental impacts that require a complex and comprehensive environmental evaluation in order to manage them effectively. This becomes even more complicated when new technologies are reaching the level of technological maturity needed to be installed in the production lines. To address this scientific challenge, the life cycle assessment (LCA) has been used in this paper to evaluate the potential of pulsed electric fields (PEF) technology at an industrial scale to facilitate the steam peeling of tomato fruits. Considering the thermo-physical peeling stage, the LCA has shown that PEF technology is environmentally friendly, because when PEF technology is applied, all the considered environmental indicators improve between 17% and 20%.