Use of solar energy and social innovation in food drying in traditional communities of subtropical atlantic forest

• Grant number: 22/16545-5
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Duration: September 01, 2023 - August 31, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Fishery Resources and Fishery Engineering
• Principal Investigator: Érico Tadao Teramoto
• Grantee: Érico Tadao Teramoto
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias. Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus do Vale do Ribeira. Registro , SP, Brazil
• Associated researchers: Alexandre Dal Pai ; Carlos Augusto Prata Gaona ; Dariane Beatriz Schoffen Enke ; Guilherme Wolff Bueno ; Levi Pompermayer Machado

Abstract

Solar radiation is considered one of the main renewable energy sources, strategic for the sustainable production of food, as it is clean, perennial and free. The use of solar energy in drying food has always been attractive, taking into account the cost-effectiveness and applicability on the rural property by the producer himself. Food drying on rural property aims to reduce the water content in food and, in this way, increase the shelf life of the product and reduce the transport costs. Currently, the photovoltaic/thermal dryers (PVT) stand out among solar drying technologies, being considered the most promising and therefore the focus of different studies. In PVT dryers, the heat for to perform the drying comes from the cooling of photovoltaic panels, which is carried out to increase the efficiency in the generation of electrical energy. This project proposes the use of PVT dryers to dry food produced by traditional communities in the Atlantic Forest and South Coast of São Paulo, where conditions of high cloudiness and air humidity predominate. Different configurations of PVT dryers will be tested, aims to overcome the limitations imposed by the climate and the suitability to the of food. Drying tests will be performed with duckweed (Lemna spp.), which does not present information in the literature, in addition to salted regional fish and bottarga, which are produced by traditional communities. This bioinnovation will be tested in loco in order to reach level six of technological maturity (TRL). Thus, it will be possible to develop a social technology that will promote local production, increase income and foster the fishing bioeconomy, contributing with the application of "eco-friendly" processes to improve the quality of life of these traditional communities. (AU)