(ANSA) - MILAN, OCTOBER 20 - Innovative systems for the harvesting and preservation of table grapes were illustrated during a workshop on Sicilian products at Expo Milano 2015 during a week focusing on the Italian island. Italian and foreign experts took part, dealing with issues linked to the production, harvest and post-harvest phases, as well as food quality, health benefits, industrial use of byproducts and promotion of Sicilian table grapes on foreign markets. As university professor and expert Rosario Di Lorenzo noted, ''there are two brands in Sicily: Canicattì and Mazzarrone grapes, which have long production periods due both to the systems adopted and the climate. The weak point could be the inertia, in terms of diversity, as well as the high production costs. There is also skepticism as concerns innovation.'' Giancarlo Colelli from the University of Foggia, an expert in Postharvest Technology of Horticultural, has conducted research on new technologies in the field.

''The Dutch 'Palliflex' technology,'' he said, ''makes it possible to maintain, in the preservation of soft fruits, the right quantity of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the packages, keeping the product fresh longer.'' (ANSA).