Fresh fruits and vegetables are essential to a healthy diet, but they are also highly perishable. Globally, 25 to 50% of fruits and vegetables are lost between the farm and the plate. This represents not only an economic loss but also a missed opportunity to feed people more sustainably. Keeping fruit fresh for longer isn’t just about packaging, it’s about understanding the biology behind ripening. Understanding how oxygen interacts with ethylene (a key ripening hormone) could lead to breakthrough technologies that extend shelf life, reduce food waste, and maintain the nutritional and sensory qualities of fruits.
The COST Action ‘Oxygen sensing a novel mean for biology and technology of fruit quality’ (Roxy-COST) has addressed this challenge in a new and innovative way. Bringing together scientists from across Europe, the project explored how oxygen and other stress signals affect the quality of fruit, using tomatoes as a starting point.
Why oxygen matters: the hidden science of shelf life
“Fruits like apples, pears, and tomatoes continue to ripen after harvest, which can be both a benefit and a challenge. If not properly managed, they can become overripe very quickly, leading to waste and financial losses”, explains Dr Julien Pirrello, the Action Chair. “This is a major issue for growers, retailers, and consumers alike.”
The Action researchers relied on the hypothesis that some of the processes controlling fruit ripening and storage, like low oxygen stress, are similar to what plants experience during flooding. Yet, until now, this connection has been largely overlooked. By studying how oxygen levels and related stress signals influence fruit ripening and quality, the ROXY-COST explored new ways to manage fruit storage.
From the laboratory to the farm, and from the farm to the fork
ROXY-COST has made significant progress in our understanding of the effects of oxygen and plant stress on fruit ripening. While the tomato plant was used as a model, significant progress was also made in fruit crops such as olives, grapes, peppers, saffron, and oranges. By bringing together experts from across Europe, the network has produced results that are already influencing science, agriculture, and food supply chains.
The scientific impact is significant. Researchers have identified new natural compounds in fruit that help the fruit cope with low-oxygen conditions, such as flooding or after harvesting. These discoveries could lead to the development of bioactive molecules that extend shelf life while maintaining the nutritional value and taste of fruit. The project also clarified how key elements such as oxygen, ethylene (a ripening hormone), and nitric oxide interact during the ripening process. This new understanding enables plant breeders to incorporate natural traits into breeding programmes to create fruit varieties that store better and are more resilient to stress.
From an economic perspective, the Action has boosted the long-term competitiveness of European plant science. By encouraging collaboration between countries and disciplines, it has supported the development of new technologies and strategies to reduce post-harvest food waste. Improved knowledge of how fruit over-ripen and how to manage this process through better storage and breeding will directly benefit companies involved in fruit storage and supply chains. This also promotes a more sustainable and efficient food system.
The project has had an equally strong societal impact. The project provided tools and training that will benefit those directly involved in food production, breeding and research.
The HARNESSTOM-ROXY-COST alliance
One of the major achievements of ROXY-COST has been its contribution to the development and expansion of HARNESSTOM, a free, Open Access database designed to support the breeding of improved tomato varieties.
Alongside co-organising training schools, ROXY-COST awarded grants for short-term scientific missions that enabled researchers to actively collaborate with HARNESSTOM. Action members gained access to a powerful gateway offering genomic, genetic, and trait-related information and tools to support both research and practical applications in crop improvement. The platform is now being extended to include other crops such as grapevines and fruit trees, further increasing its value to the agricultural sector.
“This comprehensive resource benefits scientists by providing extensive phenotypic and genomic data, and it offers significant advantages to breeding companies.” Dr Julien Pirrello, Chair of Roxy-COST
“This comprehensive resource benefits scientists by providing extensive phenotypic and genomic data, and it offers significant advantages to breeding companies,” says the Action Chair. “It serves as a one-stop shop for developing new genetic markers and identifying promising breeding materials based on phenotypic trait-genotype, which can lead to the creation of fruit varieties with improved quality and durability”.
Growing careers of young people through science
One of ROXY-COST’s greatest successes has been its investment in early-career researchers, helping them gain new skills and establish collaborations, co-authorships, and postdoctoral opportunities. ROXY-COST supported 19 Short-Term Scientific Missions and organised 8 training schools. Seventeen young researchers and innovators, primarily from countries with less research capacity, have benefited from COST’s mobility grants.
“Mobility grants have enabled learning in areas such as non-destructive oxygen measurement in fruit, RNA sequencing analysis, genome editing, quantification of fruit apocarotenoids, tomato transformation, and subcellular profiling”, shares the Action Chair. “Moreover, Roxy-COST has connected young researchers and innovators to an international network: one young researcher from Cambridge University and one from Ghent University, recruited two postdocs within the network, while another has already co-authored publications thanks to short-term mobility exchanges”.
The voice of young researchers
Maria Lobato Gomez, a PhD student, shares her experience of COST’s networking tools:
“Thanks to the Roxy-COST Action, I had the opportunity to attend a training school on plant metabolomics at Royal Holloway, University of London, where I was able to significantly deepen my knowledge in the field. Later, I was awarded a Roxy-COST short-term scientific mission to conduct experiments related to my PhD thesis in the same laboratory. The results of this research were published in The Plant Journal”.
Another PhD student, Sonja Umicevic, adds:
“Joining the Roxy COST Action was a turning point in my PhD journey and research career. The training school at Royal Holloway, University of London, provided valuable hands-on experience. I then received two STSM grants at the Institute for Biological Research ‘Sinisa Stanković’ in Belgrade, where I conducted several vital analyses for my PhD. I presented these results at several Roxy COST annual meetings in Belgrade, Antalya, and Zaragoza, and eventually published them in Frontiers in Plant Science”.
“Attending COST events helped me grow as a researcher, build confidence in presenting my work, and most importantly, connect with other researchers from all over Europe. Some of these connections even resulted in invitations to collaborate with them and continue my research at their institutions. I’m incredibly grateful for this experience, which has equipped me with the necessary skills to progress in my field. I would recommend it to any early-career researcher looking to take their work to the next level”.
The future of fruit, fresher and fairer
The ROXY-COST network’s work is far from over. It culminated in 10 new research projects, demonstrating its capacity building, European competitiveness, and sustainable innovation.
As a result, FRUITPRINT, a Horizon Europe MSCA Staff Exchange project due to begin in 2025. Focusing on developing low-carbon post-harvest technologies, FRUITPRINT offers practical solutions to reduce the environmental impact of food storage while maintaining fruit quality.
As Europe strives to build more resilient and sustainable food systems, ROXY-COST has demonstrated that open, collaborative science can deliver tangible results, from farms and laboratories to supermarket shelves and tables.
Additional information
View the Action website
Discover the network website
Discover the video ‘A la recherche du goût perdu – Jeudi Science’: a public lecture by Dr Julien Pirrello, Chair of ROXY-COST Action.
Follow ROXY-COST on X @CostRoxy