SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, 13 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) –
A work by the Technological Institute for Renewable Energies (ITER), dependent on the Cabildo de Tenerife, and the University of La Laguna, called Aleocan, will certify the authenticity and geographical origin of the production of aloe vera from the Canary Islands. This is a traceability study with a budget of 474,694 euros, which will take place over 36 months.
The ALOECAN project is part of the line of research on agri-food traceability that the ITER Environment Area has been developing for the last five years and aims to protect producers and consumers from potential fraud.
“Research on agri-food products is an outstanding value of ITER, through this study the production in the Canary Islands of a plant such as aloe vera and its properties, so in vogue, will have a certified quality guarantee from the scientific point of view” , has indicated the president of the Cabildo, Pedro Martín.
The president remarked that “scientific production at ITER has increased by 115 percent during this mandate and we are in a process of transformation of the entity that is beginning to bear fruit with research and studies that have an impact on the common good, such as The case and all this -said the president- is part of the objective of updating ITER and getting it out of the paroxysm situation in which it found itself”
Martín added, in addition, that “public institutions are in charge of ensuring the authenticity of the products that are on the market and, in this case, it is the first step for “the establishment of a denomination of origin for aloe vera that is grown on the islands”, which he assured is “of very high quality”.
However, the fraud of aloe and its derived products sold as Canaries currently reaches 21 million euros, according to data from the Government of the Canary Islands.
According to data from the National Association of Aloe Entrepreneurs (ASOCIALOE), the total Spanish production of aloe is around 24,000 tons, from 400-500 ha of aloe cultivated area throughout the Spanish territory, with special incidence in the Canary Islands. , according to ISTAC data about 105 Ha, Andalusia and Levante, areas with good conditions for the growth of the plant
For these reasons, the geographical traceability of aloe is of vital importance for modern Canarian society, generating the need to establish valid scientific protocols capable of tracking the geographical origin of aloe grown in the Canary Islands and its derivative products, which enjoy excellent quality. , and differentiate them from others that may be introduced from other regions.
This high quality is the result of a privileged climate and a volcanic soil very rich in minerals that make the Canary Islands one of the best places to grow this plant.
This work will evaluate the use of natural strontium isotopes and specific organic compounds, existing in aloe plants, as potential “fingerprints” of aloe grown in the Canary Islands and its derivative products.
The growing demand for high quality and safe agri-food products in Europe has promoted the development of rigid control laws to certify their authenticity and geographical origin in order to protect producers and consumers from potential fraud. Among these products is aloe, of which more than 200 potentially active compounds have been reported in its solid fraction, including vitamins, minerals, anthraquinones, polysaccharides, etc.
The ALOECAN project (CPP2021-009056) will last 36 months and is funded by the Ministry of Science and Innovation and the State Research Agency (10.13039/501100011033) and by the European Union within the framework of the Recovery Plan for EU Next Generation EU and the Spanish Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (PRTR).
