Division of Quality of Plant Products

Fruits and vegetables for all seasons

Ganzjährige Verfügbarkeit von Obst und Gemüse: Ressourceneffiziente Verarbeitung und neue Vermarktungsmöglichkeiten als Instrument zur Förderung der ländlichen Entwicklung in Sub-Sahara Afrika

Deficiencies in vitamins and minerals in human nutrition and waste of fruits and vegetable along the value chain are major constrains in Sub-Saharan Africa. Seasonality and long distances between production areas and potential consumption centres further contribute to the problem. Therefore, the major aim of the three-year FruVaSe project is to improve nutrition and economically empower women in East Africa through improved, sustainable processing of highly nutritious surplus fruits and vegetables (FVs) and their by-products in a life-cycle approach.

FruVaSe Jackfruit Value Chain S.Xing, G.Ooko, G.Keding

The specific objectives of the project are:

  • Retain nutritional value, shelf-life and food safety of healthy, nutritious, affordable products.
  • Reduce seasonality of food insecurity and food and nutrient losses.
  • Investigate the impact of processing techniques on selected fruits and leafy vegetables in form of e.g. juices, long-keeping relishes, concentrated pastes, additives to drinks, and smoothies with respect to storability, vitamins and micronutrients content and consumers’ acceptability.
  • Develop processing technologies in a resource-efficient autonomous systems approach considering the life cycle concept for organic material and water (water re-use).
  • Establish a model pilot site, adapted to the local conditions and integrating the optimized technologies.


The expected results of the project related to food and nutrition security as well as income security for woman in rural areas are as follows:

  • Nutrition security and diversity are improved by enhancing the availability and consumer acceptance of processed local FV’s and their products.
  • Energy-autonomous autonomous (renewable energies), resource-efficient processing techniques based on a life-cycle approach and water re-use are available ensuring the use of surplus FV’s for processing and reducing seasonal gaps of nutrient supply and income.


Work packages

  • WP 1 Processing and preservation of fruits and their by-products, nutrient-retention and shelf-life period
  • WP 2 Processing and preservation of green leafy vegetables, nutrient-retention and shelf-life period
  • WP 3 Food patterns and KAP of consumption of selected processed fruits and vegetables
  • WP 4 Resource-efficient, energy-autonomous fruit and vegetable processing
  • WP 5 Marketing of fruit and vegetable products including packaging, marketing channels and consumer acceptance


FruVaSe encompasses two German Universities (UGOE, EUAS) and four East African Universities in Tanzania (NM-AIST), Uganda (MUG), and Kenya (UoN, UoE), as well as national and international associated partners.

NM-AIST: Nelson Mandela Institute of Science and Technology, Arusha, Tanzania

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MUG: Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda

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UoN: University of Nairobi, Kenya

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UoE: University of Eldoret, Kenya

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EUAS: Erfurt University of Applied Sciences

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UGOE: Georg-August-University of Göttingen

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