WG5 first meeting

On January 28th-29th January 2021, nearly 150 researchers from 23 countries attended the first WG5 meeting.
After a brief introduction to the PlAgri project by the action chair Dr Nevena Puač and WG5 activities and aims by WG leaders Dr Matteo Gherardi and Dr Oliver Schlüter, the first day of activities was dedicated to the presentation of the expertise and activities of WG5 participants. The detailed list of speakers and the titles of their presentations can be downloaded here.

On the second day, the activities for the production of the WG5 technical roadmap were started with discussions about key food applications and the possibility to adopt standard procedures for the characterization of plasma sources and processes. A general agreement was found on the benefits of identifying standard procedures and adopting application dependent efficacy, safety and quality indicators to compare results produced in different laboratories and with different plasma technologies; on the contrary, it was generally agreed that a standardization of plasma technologies would be detrimental.

Finally, Dr Anton Nikiforov and Dr Augusto Stancampiano briefly introduced the dissemination instruments available in the frame of the COST PlAgri. During the discussion that followed, companies, regulatory agencies and trade associations were identified as important partners to be involved in the action. The discussion on dissemination strategies was concluded with the election of Dr Romolo Laurita as the WG5 dissemination delegate.