Operational Group: Promoting bean cultivation in Catalonia through innovative preserves for the Mongeta del Ganxet PDO
- Type Operational group
- Execution 2018 -2020
- Assigned Budget 18.970,00 €
- Scope Autonómico
- Autonomous community Cataluña
- Main source of financing PEPAC 2014-2020
- Project website https://ruralcat.gencat.cat/documents/20181/5394834/INICIAL+PILOT+GO+2017_010_C…
Ganxet beans are a high-quality legume highly appreciated by consumers, but they are rarely sold in canned form. This is because the techniques used in canning, especially sterilization, profoundly alter their organoleptic characteristics and make them sensorially similar to other canned beans, which, cooked traditionally, would be very different.
Thus, since consumers cannot recognize their quality, they are unwilling to pay a higher price to acquire them. Considering that the final product that reaches the consumer is the result of many factors, it seems possible to act on several levels to reduce the effects of heat treatment and try to maintain objective sensory differences between preserves made from excellent raw materials and those made from lower-quality materials.
With this goal in mind, the current project began in 2018, focusing on two main areas of work: raw material selection, and canning protocols.
The overall objective of the project is to optimize both the cultivation and heat treatment used in the production of preserved Ganxet beans, to achieve a product that is objectively recognizable for its sensory quality, while fully respecting the characteristics of the Ganxet DOP bean when prepared in the traditional way.
This new canned product should allow the companies that are part of the Operational Group presenting the project to gain ground in the canned bean market and maximize the value of this legume's Protected Designation of Origin seal, both locally and internationally.
The results obtained in the development of the project have allowed:
- To delve deeper into the agronomic performance of Ganxet beans and, at the same time, optimize their cultivation.
- Develop new protocols for the heat treatment of Ganxet bean preserves, which have proven to be less aggressive on the raw material.
- Achieving a higher-quality final product through the combination of germplasm and the most optimal treatment.
- Develop models for quality control of raw materials.
- Coordinator/entity name: EL PROGRÈS-GARBÍ AGRICULTURAL COOPERATIVE
- Coordinator/entity email: josep.ferrer@c-ferrer.com
- FUNDACIÓ MIQUEL AGUSTÍ
- Cooperativa Agrícola El Progrès-Garbí
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