Anna Ranieri, the youngest member of Open Fields, is the winner for the best thesis about chili pepper according to the Accademia Italiana del Peperoncino (the Italian Red Chili Pepper Academy).
She graduated in Food Science and Technology at the University of Parma, presenting the thesis “Caracterization of different varieties of chili pepper selected and grown at the Azienda Agraria Sperimentale Stuard, Parma”. Anna carried out an experimental work analyzing varieties selected in the huge germplasm collected for more than ten years by Mario Dadomo in Parma. The thesis, coordinated by Prof. Antonella Cavazza, analyzed the piquancy of the selected varieties and classified them based on the size of the berries, color, water activity, dry weight and protein content.
Anna’s work falls within the project PepInER promoted by Regione Emilia Romagna and Open Fields with the aim of the development of an Italian chili pepper production chain.
Anna will receive the first prize during the final ceremony of the Red Chili Pepper Festival that will take place in Diamante, Cosenza, next 5-9 September.