The Department for Fruit and Vegetable Processing

	» Staff  - M. Sc. Tea Kulisic  - B. Sc. Mirella Zanetic

The forerunner of the Department for fruit and vegetable processing was the Institutes Department for agrochemistry. A significant part of its activities the Department has dedicated to testing a great number agricultural products. From that period are dated the first analyses of olive oil, essential oils, honey, different fruits and its products. Those analyses were performed for the needs of internal and external traffic. The Department was authorized for control and analyses of industrial industrial products: bauxite, cement - clay, petroleum and similar other., to the time the Health Centre was established in 1930., but the Department has continued with analyses of industrial products meant for agriculturure reproduction systems concerning plant protection and also analyses of artificial fertilizers.

Chemical investigationes of essential oils are developed and tied to agroecological and agrotechnical researches. Aromatic plants, garden - sage, rosemary, lavender and immortelle were researched in order to regionalized the area. An optimal nurturing style was researched, especially that of lavander and pyrethrum. In the afther war period intense research has been done on how to select different types of lavender with regards to its oil quality. A number of published scientiftc works from that field represent a valuable contribution to the knowledge of essential oils and pyrethrum.

In the last few years the main Institutes task was to increase the number of scientists of this Department. Present activities of Department includes chemical - physical and organoleptic analyses of autochtonous olive oils at first place. Moreover, preservation tests of green and black olives are examined with microbiologycal analyses of the preservation process. Technological characteristics of introduced olive varieties are researched along with their oil analyses and also chemical - physical analyses of fruits and vegetables are performed.

Permanent colaboration is maintained with related institutions from main countries in the field of oliveculture and, also, a knowledge exchange and new scientific comprehension with famous scientists are accomplished. By partecipation at scientific symposiumes and seminars in the country and abroud the latest trends are followed along with changes in analyses methods standardisation that are in common use, application of new standards together with modern interests and trends in researching field.