Project Description

The Urban Farming Lab was founded in 2019 by Prof Angelo Corallo, from the Dept of Innovation Engineering, and Profs Tiziano Verri and Pietro Alifano, from the Dept of Biological and Environmental Sciences and Technologies.

The UF Lab vision is to increase food system sustainability and compatibility with the urban environment. It thus conducts interdisciplinary research in the fields of Automation and Robotics in the Food Industry, Food Science, Biomaterials and Systems Ecology.

The UF Lab staff is currently involved in several R&D projects on the following topics:

  • Urban Commercial Aquaponics (production systems, protocols, food/non-food products);
  • Indoor Automated Cultivation of Organic Vegetables and Flowers;
  • Smart and Climate-resilient Aquaculture (onshore/offshore);
  • Aquaculture Food Innovation;
  • Biotech Application in Health & Beauty;
  • Agriculture 4.0.

The UF Lab also houses an indoor aquaponics demo system, including a DSS and embedded IoT systems for environmental monitoring.

Competences

  • IoT and Automation in the Food Industry
  • Food Supply Chain and Business Model Innovation
  • New Food Product/Process Development
  • Food Waste Valorisation
  • Biomonitoring and bioremediation

For more information please contact: Federica Stella Blasi (federicastella.blasi@unisalento.it)

Related Projects

ISEPA – Improving Sustainability, Efficiency and Profitability of large – scale Aquaponics2022-05-18T12:08:42+00:00

Research Area

Partner

  • NIBA (DISSPA+DIPBIO+PUJO+DISAAT)
  • UNIFG (SAFE)
  • Università degli studi della Tuscia
  • Università del Piemonte Orientale
  • CNR-IRBIM (LESINA)
  • CNR-IRSA (TARANTO)
  • CNR-IC
  • CNR -IMM
  • POLIBA (Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, Ambientale, del Territorio, Edile e di Chimica)
  • Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Puglia e della Basilicata (IZSPB)
  • Istituto Cooperativo di Ricerca
  • Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia
  • Istituto Superiore per la Protezione e la Ricerca Ambientale
  • Fondazione Centro Euro-Mediterraneo sui Cambiamenti Climatici
  • Xenia Network Solutions s.r.l.
  • Typeone s.r.l.
  • Hydra Società Cooperativa
  • Naica Società Cooperativa
  • Apphia srl
  • Badinotti Group spa
  • Maricoltura Mattinatese Soc. Coop. A. R. L.
  • Planetek Italia s.r.l.
  • Xenia Progetti srl
  • Federazione Provinciale Coldiretti Lecce
  • Azienda Agricola “Masseria Bianca”
  • Smarteducationlab srl
  • New Generation Aquaponics srl
  • Agenzia Lucana di Sviluppo e di Innovazione in Agricoltura
  • Apofruit Italia Società Cooperativa Agricola
  • Bonifiche Ferraresi Società Agricola
  • Cantina di Ruvo di Puglia Società Cooperativa Agricola
  • Cantina sociale cooperativa di San Donaci s.c.a.
  • FOS S.p.A.
  • GRUPPO ITALIANO VINI SPA
  • I.D.S. INGEGNERIA DEI SISTEMI S.p.A.
  • OLEIFICO PELTOM S.R.L.
  • Servizi di informazione territoriale srl
  • SYSMAN PROGETTI & SERVIZI SRL
  • MAREVIVO S.r.l.
  • MARIBRIN SRL Società agricola
  • P. Società Agricola Cooperativa San Rocco

Publication

– Terzi A, Sibillano T, De Caro L, Altamura D, Gallo N, Natali ML, Sannino A, Salvatore L, Blasi FS, Corallo A, Giannini C, WAXS and SAXS Investigation of Collagen-Rich Diet Effect on Multiscale Arrangement of Type I Collagen in Tilapia Skin Fed in Aquaponics Plant. Crystals 12(5):700, 2022

– Gallo N, Natali ML, Quarta A, Gaballo A, Terzi A, Sibillano T, Giannini C, De Benedetto GE, Lunetti P, Capobianco L, Blasi FS, Sicuro A, Corallo A, Sannino A, Salvatore L, Aquaponics-Derived Tilapia Skin Collagen for Biomaterials Development. Polymers 14(9):1865, 2022

-Salvatore L, Gallo N, Natali ML, Campa L, Lunetti P, Madaghiele M, Blasi FS, Corallo A, Capobianco L, Sannino A. Marine collagen: a versatile and sustainable biomaterial for healthcare. Materials Science & Engineering C,113, 110963, 2020

-Ciavolino E., Angelelli M., & Blasi F. S. (2021, Oct). Uncertainty and Factor Indeterminacy: Quality Perception of Bluefish Products. In 2021 International Workshop on Metrology for the Sea; Learning to Measure Sea Health Parameters (MetroSea) (pp. 6-10). IEEE

-Friuli M., Masciullo A., Blasi F. S., Mita M., Corbari L., & Surano I. (2021, Sept). A 4.0 Sustainable Aquaponic System Based on the Combined Use of Superabsorbing Natural Hydrogels and Innovative Sensing Technologies for the Optimization of Water Use. In 2021 IEEE 6th International Forum on Research and Technology for Society and Industry (RTSI) (pp. 429-434). IEEE

N. Gallo, M. L. Natali, C. Brunetti, A. Quarta, A. Gaballo, A. Terzi, T. Sibillano, C. Giannini, G. E. De Benedetto, F. S. Blasi, A. Corallo, A. Sannino, L. Salvatore. Extraction and characterization of native type I collagen from aquaponics Tilapia skin. Società Europea per i Biomateriali (2021)