Registration is open. Abstract submission is open and will close on June 30th, 2025.
Table olives are among the most ancient fermented foods. Although their production is concentrated around the Mediterranean basin, climatic change may lead to a significant growth in other continents, like the Americas. The study of the ecology of this fermentation process, of the functionality of the microorganisms involved (lactic acid bacteria, yeasts, other halophiles) and the development of control strategies is challenging for several reasons:
- as for many other vegetable fermentations, no heat treatment is used
- the variety of raw materials (in terms of olive cultivars and ripeness of the fruit) and the variety of trade preparations strongly affects the initial contamination and the ecological factors affecting the dynamics of the fermentation
- development and use of starters and functional cultures is difficult and the choice is limited
The use of -omics approaches is providing and increasing body of knowledge which, however, is poorly integrated. We therefore feel that, in the era of open data and open science, it is the right time for a meeting of the scientists involved in research in this area in order to:
- share state of the art knowledge on the microbiology of the process
- share data
- foster the development of standardized protocols
- foster the creation of collaboration networks
The meeting has been organized as part of the communication activity of the METAOlive project, co-funded by the Italian Ministry of Education, and by the European Union Next GenerationEU program.
Scientific Committee
Prof. Eugenio Parente, Prof. Giuseppe Montanaro, Università degli Studi della Basilicata
Prof.ssa Francesca De Filippis, Prof. Alessandro Genovese, Università degli Studi di Napoli “Federico II”
Dr. Francisco Noé Arroyo López, CSIC, Sevilla, Spagna
Prof. Efstathios Panagou, Agricultural University Athens, Athen, Grecia
Organizing Committee
Prof. Eugenio Parente, Prof.ssa Annamaria Ricciardi, Dott.ssa Rocchina Pietrafesa, Università degli Studi della Basilicata
Program.
Participating to the meeting.
Both in person participation and remote access to the talks and poster presentations will be allowed, although we do encourage participation in person. No participation fee is required.
Contacts.
For all questions related to the workshop please email to metaolive_workshop@unibas.it. Note that this account will be active only until 31/12/2025.
Deadlines.
1/4/2025 Registration and submission of abstracts opens
30/6/2025 Submission of abstracts
15/7/2025 Communication of acceptance of abstracts for contributed talks
31/7/2025 Deadline for registration for attendance in presence (subject to availability)
15/8/2025 Deadline for registration for remote attendance
Registration.
Follow this link for registration: https://form.jotform.com/250823368969068
There is no registration fee. However, only the first 50 participants who will complete their registration and who will submit an abstract for a talk or an e-poster will be able to attend in person. All the others will be given access to videoconference or streaming links. Coffee and lunch breaks are included.
The venue.
The meeting will take place at the University of Basilicata, in historical city of Matera. Matera is part of the UNESCO world heritage list and its cityscape and lively gastronomic scene will contribute to a pleasant stay and unique experience. Matera can be reached from Bari International Airport: the organizing committee will organize transportation to and from the airport. Further information on how to reach Matera by car, train or bus is available here.
The dates.
September is a busy month for food microbiologists. The meeting will take place on Monday September 1st, 2025 and, depending on the number of attendees and presentations, might be extended to the morning of September 2nd.
Submission of abstracts.
Participants can submit abstracts for e-posters (500 words), contributed talks (1000 words), invited talks (2000 words, only if invited by the Scientific Committee). The abstract template is available here. Speakers will have the opportunity to submit a paper for a special issue of Grasas y aceites. You can upload your abstract using this form. Registration will close on June 30th 2025. Abstract will be selected for presentation as a contributed talk or e-poster by the Scientific Committee and participants will be notified by 31/7/2025.
The venue.
The meeting will take place at the University of Basilicata, in historical city of Matera. Matera is part of the UNESCO world heritage list and its cityscape and lively gastronomic scene will contribute to a pleasant stay and unique experience. Matera can be reached from Bari International Airport: the organizing committee will organize transportation to and from the airport. Further information on how to reach Matera by car, train or bus is available here. More information on visiting Matera can be found at: https://www.materawelcome.it/it/.
Hotels.
The participants with the exception of invited speakers will have to make their own hotel reservations. Matera is a relatively small town so we encourage to reserve as soon as possible. A list of hotels and other accommodation solutions is available at: https://www.materawelcome.it/en/dormire-mangiare-e-bere/dormire/
Sponsors and supporting organizations.
The meeting is being organized within the framework of the PRIN 2022 Project METAOlive project, grant 2022NN28ZZ and received funding from the European Union Next-GenerationEU, CUP C53D23005460006 (PIANO NAZIONALE DI RIPRESA E RESILIENZA (PNRR) – MISSIONE 4 COMPONENTE 2, INVESTIMENTO 1.4 – D.D. 1048 14/07/2023).
Further funding was provided by Dipartimento di Scienze Agrarie, Forestali, Alimentari ed Ambientali and Università degli Studi della Basilicata.
The organization of the workshop is under the patronage of:
- Società Italiana di Microbiologia Agroalimentare ed ambientale
- Dipartimento di Agraria, Università degli Studi di Napoli “Federico II”
- Agricultural University of Athens, Greece
