School of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences
Our testing facilities and expertise are unparalleled – LATS is the trusted partner in Limpopo Province
LIMPOPO AGRO-FOOD TECHNOLOGY STATION
Agro-Food Processing
Department of Science and Technology through the Tshumisano Trust initiated an Agro-Food Processing, called Limpopo Agro-Food Technology Station in Limpopo Province with the aim of assisting Small-medium Enterprises in Agro-Food processing. The Technology Station is located at the University of Limpopo. Its strategic partners are the Limpopo Department of Agriculture and the Local Economic Department and Tourism.
The vision of the station is “To be a centre of excellence in the provision of high-quality agro-food processing services in South Africa using cutting edge technologies”; whereas the mission is “To provide quality agro-food processing services for Small-Medium-Enterprises in Limpopo Province through modern technologies and partnerships”
The objectives of the station include:
- To provide analytical services for Small-Medium-Enterprises to comply with National and International Standards Organization
- To promote alternative income-generating products with value-addition
- To promote human resources capital in agro-food processing
- To enhance entrepreneurial skills for existing and potential Small-Medium-Enterprises
- To strengthen research and development capacity in agro-food processing and value-addition sectors within Limpopo Province
Considering that producing good, wholesome food is critical in terms of maintaining public health and those foods nor produced according to Good Manufacturing Practices can make people sick and even result in death, companies must ensure the safety of these products. In an ideal world, all the raw materials would be wholesome and safe, but, since there are always a number of links in the supply and production chain, checks and balances need to be implemented along the way.
SCIENTIFIC & TECHNICAL SERVICES
Technology services
Limpopo Agro-food Technology Station offers a wide range of scientific and technical services to the SMEs, agricultural co-operation and food industries in developing, enhancing and maintaining safe, efficient and cost-effective food production. The station also offers the following technical services: juice processing from raw products, indigenous and exotic fruits drying, beverages from indigenous tea and a wide range of technical training to SMEs. For smaller companies, in particular, this may be burdensome in terms of cost. This is where LATS can assists since it is focusing on developing an entrepreneurial ethos for SMEs.
The service offered by LATS includes starting from the farm to ready-to-eat food. Typical areas of approach include the following:
- Advising on pre and post-harvest and immediate post-harvest treatment of raw materials
- Quality control checks and monitoring during production as part of good practice
- Analyses related to shelf-life
- New product development, which includes fruit drying with different preservatives concentrations, especially S0 2.
- Traditional herbal teas are still ongoing research, modification of existing products and production of new variants of existing lines
- Auditing and advising preparing for audits by prospective clients
Product analysis
The station has the capacity to do a full proximate analysis which includes fat, crude fibre, protein, ash, moisture, carbohydrates, and energy. Macro- and micro-elements, vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, polyphenols and tannin contents can also be analyzed.
