Professional Documents
Culture Documents
CEREALS
OCRIM demonstrated its expertise in the
monitoring of cereals from cultivation right
through to processing at its conference in
Massa Marittima, Italy
has continued to grow since it has found the right direction and
way of investing in research, expertise and the desire to make
production become an increasingly integral part of the company;
thus fully ensuring the product is not only Italian Made, but also
entirely OCRIM Made.
The general secretary of Coldiretti, Vincenzo Gesmundo
greeted the audience with a spontaneous and heartfelt speech,
speaking of the importance of an approach to work focused on
constant improvement. He highlighted the role and responsibility
of a true production chain, which can be defined as such only
if the traceability of final products can be certified. Finally, the
secretary of Coldiretti spoke of the distinctiveness of Italian
culture, through a final product that is considered to be an
emblem of high quality, which also expresses respect for the free
will of consumers. In fact, the latter are considered the actual
legitimate and impartial supporters of this chain, since they are
the ones in charge of evaluating true Italian quality.
The convention continued with a speech by OCRIMs
Commercial Director, Stefano Mazzini, who introduced and
talked about the company he works for. For over 70 years,
OCRIM has been building milling plants for cereal processing,
founding its activities and productivity exclusively on the concept
of Italianness. Stefano then introduced the experts, who came
with him from Cremona, to speak about quality but also about
the issues related to the cereal sector and the measures, both
upstream and downstream, to be taken to obtain a wholesome and
properly processed product.
The first speech, made by Simona Digiuni, an agricultural
biotechnologist with international experience in the field of
plant research, mainly spoke about the management of cereal
F
contamination, which can be a
result of several different factors.
She listed all the causes of
contamination in clear detail and
then illustrated the measures to
be taken.
She explained that in order
to allow cereals to reach the
processing stage in optimal
condition, they must be
monitored since the cultivation
phase. It is crucial for heavy
metals not to be present in high
amounts in soil, since they are
usually also present in the water
used for irrigation. Over the last
few decades, urbanisation has
certainly favoured the excessive
increase in heavy metal traces
also in rainwater, which therefore
Simona Digiuni, Marco Galli and Stefano Mazzini
contaminates the soil in which
plants are grown and, as a result,
fertilizers, are other contaminants for soil and/or crop plantations.
also contaminates crops.
Their use is considered to be vital, but exceeding the doses
Simona Digiuni presented the issue of fungi, which produce
permitted by law can be extremely damaging. Luckily, over the
mycotoxins, explaining how dangerous they are due to thermal
last few years, there has been a growing tendency to focus on
stability, which allows them to survive heat treatments.
integrated pest management, instead of just using chemicals, a
The presence of mycotoxins can generate contaminant
solution also seen as the most convenient. However, it certainly
microenvironments also during the storage phase, with the risk of
involves more patience, since it requires greater attention and
contaminating the entire product batch.
provides slower results.
Plant protection products, which are useful to fight diseases,
Simona Digiuni points out that it is therefore crucial to carry
insects, fungi and bacteria, weeds harmful for cultivation, and
F
out monitoring based on the restrictions imposed by regulations
and/or laws regarding the presence of heavy metals in soil
or the use of substances that act as a means of support for
crops, which, however, pose a threat to the soil and plants and,
consequently, also to human and animal health. In fact, it has
been scientifically observed that many cardiovascular diseases,
hormonal disorders and autoimmune diseases are the result
of unhealthy nutrition due to the excessive use of substances
present on/in plants or the substantial presence of heavy metal
traces in food and water.
Moreover, the biotechnology expert states that it is absolutely
necessary to take measures to ensure full product monitoring,
starting from humidity control in the environments where
products are stored, and of products themselves such as the
identification and removal of product parts that are already
contaminated, through to the cleaning and decortication stage.
Following the speech by Simona Digiuni, the director of the
technology office of OCRIM, Marco Galli, took to the floor. The
OCRIM expert also focused his speech and discussion on the
issues of cereal contamination and provided technical answers so
that, given his field of specialisation, he could suggest solutions
to complete the scientific context that was previously illustrated.
Marco Galli started out by saying that any cereal processing
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