Desenvolvimento, produção e controlo de qualidade de produtos vegetais desidratados

Abstract

This report aims to describe all activities performed in the course of the academic internship atFrueat – Produtos Alimentares, Lda., based in Porto, with an industrial unit in Viseu, as part ofthe MSc in Biotecnologia and Inovação – Ciência Alimentar.Frueat is a company that develops and manufactures dehydrated food products, specificallyfruits and vegetables. The company uses products with little to no market acceptance due tophysical traits such as unusual size or unappealing visual aspect, thus taking advantage of thatfood while fighting its waste. The internship took place at the production plant in Viseu, for 6months long.I worked in several areas of the food industry and nutrition such as: food safety and its control,measurement of water content and activity, implementation of a food safety system based onHACCP rules and assembling a laboratory; food quality control, handling complaints and shelftesting the products; sensory analysis, ensuring the quality control of old and new products;participating in the development of new products, increasing the product line of laminatedfruits, while creating a new brand, called Veegs, for vegetables and tubers. During thisinternship, I followed up closely the construction of the new company premises in Viseu,collaborating with the blueprints’ structure and choice of equipment and utensils. Throughoutthe internship and the preparation of this report, a comprehensive scientific survey was done onthe presented topics.This internship allowed me to reorganize the food safety system, improving daily practices thatultimately ensured a better company market value and positioning, through the developmentand launch of new products.I acquired a rich and fulfilling experience in a way that it allowed me hands-on contact with thePortuguese food industry reality.

Date of Award	11 Apr 2017
Original language	Portuguese
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Orlando Filipe Sobral de Oliveira Simões (Supervisor)