Horticulturae Webinar | New Strategies for Revalorisation and Postharvest Maintenance of Fruit and Vegetables
Horticulturae Webinar | New Strategies for Revalorisation and Postharvest Maintenance of Fruit and Vegetables
Part of the Horticulturae Webinar Series series
16 December 2025
Fruit and Vegetables, Postharvest, Food Loss, Fermentation, Interdisciplinary Approach, Food Sustainability
Welcome from the Chair
4th Horticulturae Webinar
New Strategies for Revalorisation and Postharvest Maintenance of Fruit and Vegetables
Everyone is warmly invited to this special webinar celebrating the 10th anniversary of Horticulturae. I am Noelia Castillejo from the Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena (Spain), and it is my pleasure to serve as Chair for this webinar, “New Strategies for Revalorisation and Postharvest Maintenance of Fruit and Vegetables.”
Over the past decade, Horticulturae has provided a vibrant forum for advancing horticultural science and accelerating the translation of research into practice. This program will reflect that spirit—bringing together complementary perspectives on how we can extract more value from fruit and vegetable resources while preserving quality throughout the postharvest chain.
We will be honored to host three distinguished talks:
“Innovative Uses and Extractions of Fruit and Vegetable By-Products: A New Frontier in Plant-Based Foods.” With Dr. Lorena Martínez-Zamora, we will explore cutting-edge extraction and valorisation approaches that transform side streams into high-value ingredients.
“Revalorisation of Agro-Industrial By-Products to Develop New Valuable and Functional Foods Through Fermentation Processes.” With Dr. José Ángel Salas-Millán, we will highlight bioprocessing strategies—especially fermentation—to unlock functionality, safety, and sensory appeal in novel foods.
“Non-Destructive Analysis for Food Products with Applications to Fruit and Vegetables.” With Dr. Danial Fatchurrahman, we will examine rapid, non-invasive tools that enable real-time quality assessment and better decision-making from harvest to consumer.
Date: 16 December 2025
Time: 4:00 pm CET | 10:00 am EST | 11:00 pm CST Asia
Webinar ID: 882 9295 5534
Webinar Secretariat: journal.webinar@mdpi.com
Event Chair
Postharvest and Refrigeration Group, Department of Agronomical Engineering and Institute of Plant Biotechnology, Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena, Cartagena, Spain
A Professor and Researcher (Beatriz Galindo Junior modality) at the Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena (Spain), Noelia Castillejo is an Agricultural Engineer with a PhD in Food Technology. With a distinguished research career, she has published 40 scientific articles indexed in JCR-SCI, establishing a strong presence in high-impact international journals. Additionally, she has presented 25 communications, including both posters and oral presentations, at national and international conferences, demonstrating active engagement in disseminating scientific findings. She has participated in five national research programs and several R&D projects with companies. Her research focuses on food technology aimed at preserving and/or enhancing the quality and safety of fresh and minimally processed fruits and vegetables. This includes the valorisation of horticultural by-products, the application of abiotic stresses to enhance the synthesis of health-beneficial compounds, and the use of non-destructive technologies to predict and/or detect the postharvest performance of fruits and vegetables during storage.
Invited Speakers
Departamento de Biología Aplicada, Universidad Miguel Hernández, Avda. De la Universidad, s/n (Edificio Vinalopó), Elche, Alicante, Spain
Innovative Uses and Extractions of Fruit and Vegetable By-Products: A New Frontier in Plant-Based Foods
With a PhD in Food Technology, Nutrition, and Food Science and a degree in Nutrition and Dietetics from the University of Murcia, Lorena Martínez-Zamora has been able to focus her research career on improving the healthiness of plant and animal foods using novel technologies and natural extracts, especially obtained from food by-products. Throughout her career, she has made significant contributions to the field, publishing her findings in renowned ISI JCR journals and presenting at both international and national congresses. Her work aims to improve food quality and sustainability, combining scientific advancements with practical applications in the food industry.
Revalorisation of Agro-Industrial By-Products to Develop New Valuable and Functional Foods Through Fermentation Processes
Dr. José Ángel Salas Millán is a pharmacist from the University of Murcia with a master’s degree in R&D and Drug Control from the University of Granada. In 2019, he carried out research at the University of Costa Rica, funded by the Fundación Carolina, focusing on the phytochemicals of Psidium and the in vivo evaluation of CAS juice. He completed his PhD at the Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena (UPCT) in collaboration with JimboFresh International and the Spanish Ministry of Science. His research focused on the revalorisation of agricultural by-products using lactic acid and alcoholic fermentation for the development of functional foods. He also specialised in advanced chromatography (QqQ, QToF), in vitro gastrointestinal digestion, and bioactivity assays. During his PhD, he completed a research stay at APC Microbiome (University College Cork), for which he received the European International Mention. Dr. Salas-Millán has authored six Q1-JCR papers, a book chapter, and several conference presentations. He is co-owner of three utility models and one pending patent. He has also taught in the UPCT's Agro-Food Engineering and Agronomic Engineering programmes (2021-2025) and participated in science outreach projects. He is currently a postdoctoral researcher at APC Microbiome, working on in vitro systems and 3D cultures (organoids), contributing to COST Action (CA20128) and Horizon 2020 (NUTRIMMUNE) projects.
Postharvest Technology, Department of Agriculture, Food, Natural Science, Engineering, University of Foggia, Foggia, Italy
Non-Destructive Analysis for Food Products With the Application on Fruit and Vegetables
Danial Fatchurrahman is a researcher and academic specialising in postharvest technology and food quality assessment. Currently based at the University of Foggia (Assistant Professor), Italy, he holds a research position in the Department of Agricultural, Food Science, Natural Resources, and Engineering, with extensive experience in collaborative projects across Europe and Asia. His work focuses on innovative applications of machine vision, fluorescence, and hyperspectral imaging for quality inspection in horticultural produce. Danial serves as an editor and reviewer for international journals, contributes regularly to scientific conferences, and has received multiple awards for research excellence and technological innovation in food engineering. He is also a co-founder of Frescon-Technologies and affiliated with prestigious scientific societies, including ISHS and SISNIR.
Registration
This is a FREE webinar. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information on how to join the webinar. Registrations with academic institutional email addresses will be prioritized.
Certificates of attendance will be delivered to those who attend the live webinar.
Can’t attend? Register anyway and we’ll let you know when the recording is available to watch.
Program
|
Speaker/Presentation |
Time in CET |
Time in EST |
|
Dr. Noelia Castillejo Chair Introduction |
4:00 - 4:10 pm |
10:00 - 10:10 am |
|
Dr. Lorena Martínez-Zamora Innovative Uses and Extractions of Fruit and Vegetable By-Products: A New Frontier in Plant-Based Foods |
4:10 - 4:30 pm |
|
|
Dr. José Ángel Salas-Millán Revalorisation of Agro-Industrial By-Products to Develop New Valuable and Functional Foods Through Fermentation Processes |
4:30 - 4:50 pm |
10:30 - 10:50 am |
|
Dr. Danial Fatchurrahman Non-Destructive Analysis for Food Products With the Application on Fruit and Vegetables |
4:50 - 5:10 pm |
10:50 - 11:10 am |
|
Q&A |
5:10 - 5:25 pm |
10:10 - 10:25 am |
|
Closing of Webinar Dr. Noelia Castillejo |
5:25 - 5:30 pm |
10:25 - 10:30 am |
Relevant Special Issue
Postharvest Biology and Technology of Horticultural Crops
Edited by Dr. Noelia Castillejo and Dr. Danial Fatchurrahman
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 29 April 2026
Sponsors and Partners
Organizers
