Acronym DEPURPLUS
Category
Seafood Processing
Title Optimization of bivalve mollusc purification processes Programme Nat. Programme (supported by ESIF)
Instrument (FP6)
Contact Type (FP7)
Strand (Interreg)
NA
Theme (FP7)
Activity Area (FP6)
Regional Area (Interreg)
Action (COST)
NA
Specific Programme (FP7)
NA
Funding source National-European Coordinator Rui Jorge Miranda Rocha Coordinator email NA
Coordinator institution
CESAM - Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies (Portugal)
Institutions involved
NA
Start year 2015 End year 2015 Funding (€) € 196,776 Website https://www.cesam-la.pt/projetos/depurplus-otimizacao-dos-processos-de-depuracao-de-moluscos-bivalves/ Summary The DepurPlus project aims to optimize the purification process of bivalve molluscs. We will use as biological models four species of bivalve molluscs with economic importance for the region covered by the production area of the Ria de Aveiro: good clam (Ruditapes decussata), male clam (Venerupis pullastra), oyster (Crassostrea gigas) and cockle (Cerastoderma edule). At the beginning of the project, modular purification systems will be developed, which presented some advantages compared to the systems that currently exist on the market, such as: low operating costs, greater ease of control of the purification process, greater efficiency in disinfection of the purification water, or greater ease of maintenance of the systems. The experimental component of the project will be divided into 5 tasks: 1) Optimization of the disinfection of the purification water of bivalve molluscs by manipulating the intensity (μW.s.cm-2) of the applied UV-C R and the regulation of the water flow in the UV system, in order to optimize the exposure time of the microorganisms present in the water; 2) Evaluation of the optimum temperature and salinity for purification of the bivalve molluscs studied; 3) Optimisation of the biological load to be purified (kg. L-1) and clearance time for the 4 species studied; (4) Comparison of the final result of the purification of the molluscs scrubbed in the DepurPlus modules with the bivalve molluscs present on the market, from zones B and C, and evaluation of the marketed bivalve molluscs from zones A; 5) Preparation of a plan to evaluate the economic benefits to the sector resulting from the application of these new methodologies for the purification of bivalve molluscs. The microbiological analyses for the evaluation of the purification processes (Tasks 1 – 3) and for comparison of the bivalve molluscs purified with the methodology developed in this project with bivalve molluscs commercialized in the market (Tasks 4), will be carried out with molecular biology methods, through the technique of "Polymerase chain reaction" (PCR) in real time, which allows to identify and quantify bacteria and viruses present in bivalve molluscs before and after their purification. This project will allow the development of modular purification systems that can easily be implemented commercially, which allow the optimization of the purification process, and above all, through the identification and quantification of potentially pathogenic agents, optimize the quality control of commercialized bivalve molluscs, and contribute significantly to the improvement of food safety.
Keywords
Grooved carpet shell;
Toxic substances;
Oyster;
Bivalve;
Mollusc;
Technology;
Shellfish;
Food safety;
Marine Region
38
Portuguese Waters (27.IXa,27.IXb)
1
Marine Region Map
