News

• This Operational Group is leading a pioneering project in the Canary Islands that combines isotopic analysis, chemistry and resilience to protect local produce.
• The initiative provides objective tools to differentiate Canary Island pineapples from imported ones and to combat fraud.

Tropical pineapple is one of the emerging crops in the Canary Islands' primary sector, but its marketing faces a growing challenge: ensuring its differentiation from imported fruit. In this context, traceability and authenticity have become key elements for protecting farmers and strengthening the product's market position.

To address this challenge, the TRAZCAN Operational Group (OG) has developed an applied scientific approach that allows for objective data to support the origin , nutritional quality and sustainability of pineapple grown in the Canary Islands, contributing to its differentiation and the prevention of commercial fraud.

Goals

The overall objective of GO TRAZCAN has been to strengthen the added value of Canary Island tropical pineapple by obtaining scientific evidence that certifies its origin and productive characteristics. To this end, the project has worked along three strategic lines :

1. The analysis of the value chain and production conditions of the Canary Island tropical pineapple, including the study of its environmental impact and carbon footprint.

2. The scientific characterization of the fruit through isotopic parameters - analysis that allows identifying the place where the pineapple has been grown and the conditions in which it has grown -, chemical and nutritional parameters, aimed at defining a profile specific to the product grown in the islands.

3. The development of an origin classification tool , based on the multivariate treatment of the data obtained, with potential application to other agri-food products from the Canary Islands.

The approach has not been limited to the laboratory, but has allowed the integration of the knowledge generated into a solid, replicable methodology aligned with the objectives of sustainability and protection of the local product.

Results

GO TRAZCAN analyzed 127 samples of tropical pineapple grown in the Canary Islands – of the “MD2” and “Red Spanish” varieties – and 42 samples of imported pineapple from Costa Rica. Key findings of the project include:

• The physical-chemical characterization of the fruit (weight, size, color, firmness).

• The identification of trace elements and micronutrients.

• The evaluation of nutritional parameters, phenols and carotenoids.

• The study of pesticide residues and agricultural soils.

All this data has been integrated into a multivariate matrix that allows the construction of an objective geographical traceability tool, capable of classifying the origin of the pineapple and detecting possible fraud in its marketing.

Although the project officially ended in April 2025, the team continues to use the generated data to refine the statistical and machine learning models. In the words of Samara Dionis, a member of GO TRAZCAN: “The Operational Group continues to analyze all the data generated to provide public administrations with an objective analytical tool useful for certifying the origin of agri-food products.”

Participants and funding

The project's results were presented to the primary sector at technical workshops held in Gran Canaria, Tenerife, and El Hierro, where researchers and producers were able to learn firsthand about the progress achieved. Furthermore, the TRAZCAN Operational Group participated in exchange forums between Operational Groups, such as the CAP Network workshop on innovation held in Álava last September.

The GO TRAZCAN is made up of:

• Technological Institute of the Canary Islands (ITC) as the coordinating entity.

• Canary Islands Institute of Agricultural Research (ICIA) .

• University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (ULPGC) .

• University of La Laguna (ULL) .

• Regional Group of Banana Cooperatives of the Canary Islands (COPLACA) .

Eurobanan participated as a collaborating entity , supplying tropical pineapple of foreign origin for comparative analysis.

The project has a total budget of 189,624.32 euros and is co-financed by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) , the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAPA) and the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Food Sovereignty of the Government of the Canary Islands.