Challenges of Food Security – Need for Interdisciplinary Collaboration

A peep into the ways global systems have impacted food security and the scientific processes to enhance food productivity is being outlined .Challenges such as food safety, global environmental changes and malnutrition need a multidisciplinary approach to tackle the issues associated with them. Multidisciplinary research in diverse areas related to crop production, public health, biological, physical and mathematical sciences, predictive modeling, statistical approaches etc. is the need of the hour. The coming together of all stake holders involved in science, technology and social sciences is required to implement progressive approaches to maximize production for feeding the ever increasing population and involves studies related to storage, manufacture, retail, food supply and value chain, reducing waste by preventing post harvest losses, recycling, making food safe by eliminating food related illness due to biological and chemical hazards, adopt best measures of preservation of quality, micronutrient addition to food for enhancing nutrition etc. All of the above needs to be addressed for sustaining global food security.     

Enhancing traceability of wheat quality through the supply chain

With the growing global population, the need for food is expected to grow tremendously in the next few decades. One of the key tools to address such growing food demand is minimizing grain losses and optimizing food processing operations. Hence, several research studies are underway to reduce grain losses/degradation at the farm (upon harvest) and later during the milling and baking processes. However, less attention has been paid to changes in grain quality between harvest and milling. This paper aims to address this knowledge gap and discusses possible strategies for preserving grain quality (for Canadian wheat in particular) during unit operations at primary, process, or terminal elevators. To this end, the importance of wheat flour quality metrics is briefly described, followed by a discussion on the effect of grain properties on such quality parameters. This work also explores how drying, storage, blending, and cleaning, as some of the common post-harvest unit operations, could affect grain's end-product quality. Finally, an overview of the available techniques for grain quality monitoring is provided, followed by a discussion on existing gaps and potential solutions for quality traceability throughout the wheat supply chain.     

Food Wastage and its Impacts on Sustainable Business Operations: A Study on Sri Lankan Tourist Hotels

Sri Lanka's hotel industry is one of the key drivers of economic growth in the island nation and the tourist arrivals have almost doubled since the end of the conflict in 2009. In order to cater to this snowballing tourist traffic, many new tourist hotels are being emerged. The hospitality sector is considered as a high energy consumer which produces a large amount of solid food waste. This has placed a huge strain on resources and created immense challenges in the efficient use of these resources as well as the disposal of their waste. Therefore, the main objective of this paper is to discuss the food wastage in tourist hotels and its impact on sustainable hotel operations. Apart from that, it discusses the issues and challenges associated with the implementation of sustainable food waste management practices in hotels. The study was carried out as a qualitative study using randomly selected 20 star class hotels and the data collected through personal interviews, focused group discussions and personal observations. It was found that while the awareness of the need to minimize food wastage is high among management, and also has taken efforts to reduce the cost through food waste minimization, however, the hoteliers also have faced various challenges mainly due to the perception and behavioural patterns of customers which is beyond their control. Furthermore, the inherent characteristics of the industry have contributed for the high wastage of food. A few hoteliers have been succeeded in getting benefits from the food wastage such as installing bio gas digesters. So, one step that will help is to encourage the hotel industry to embrace and adopt food waste minimizing strategies and methods in order to achieve the environmental sustainability while increasing their financial profits.     

Invited review: The consumer and dairy food waste: An individual plus policy,systems, and environmental perspective

An estimated 40% of food produced in the United States is wasted, which poses a significant barrier to achieving a sustainable future—so much so that the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal no. 12, to “ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns,” includes a goal to “halve per capita global food waste at the retail and consumer level, and reduce food losses along the production and supply chains by 2030.” Annually, consumers waste approximately 90 billion pounds of food, equating to roughly 1 pound per person per day. More specifically, consumer waste is the largest contributor to the food waste problem when compared with other steps along the supply chain, such as production, post-harvest handling and storage, processing, and distribution. Furthermore, American families discard approximately 25% of the food and beverages they buy. When considering the type of waste coming from households, fresh fruits and vegetables rank highest at 22%, with dairy products, at 19%, following in close second. A variety of factors contribute to why consumers waste so much food. For dairy, commonly referenced reasons are related to the misunderstanding of date labels, poor planning of purchases, spoilage before consuming products, and improper storage. This wasted food accumulates in landfills and produces methane when decomposing, resulting in environmental consequences related to ozone depletion and climate change. Milk can have negative environmental impacts when disposed of down the drain. This review will discuss the food waste problem, causes, and potential solutions at the consumer level, with particular focus on dairy waste. An individual plus policy, system, and environment approach will also be integrated to provide a well-rounded view of the issue.     

Agri-food loss and waste management: Win-win strategies for edible discarded fruits and vegetables sustainable reuse

In the world, a large amount of food is lost or becomes waste along the agri-food supply chain. Circular Economy models in the agri-food systems can reduce the amount of food loss and waste generated in the agri-food supply chain by using them as a new resource. In the case of fruits and vegetables, loss and waste account for 45% in the whole supply chain, being processing stage responsible of up to 18% of losses. A Systematic Literature Review (SLR) has been carried out to investigate the most effective sustainable strategies aiming to reuse the food losses in the fruits and vegetables industry. Four main research areas emerged from the SLR: reuse for human consumption, animal feeding, recovery for matter-energy use, and integration into new business models. A sustainable assessment framework is proposed to compare the different strategies. Among these, the human consumption area includes more sustainable strategies, classified according to four classes (i.e., environment, business, ICT, and consumer behavior). They have been analysed to identify the existing knowledge gaps and open issues. The results show new scientific perspectives and open research opportunities.     

Postharvest insect resistance in maize

One of the main challenges for the 21st century is ensuring global food security. Today, maize is the largest staple crop produced worldwide. Postharvest primary insect pests, especially the maize weevil (Sitophilus zeamais) and the large grain borer (Prostephanus truncatus) cause food-grain losses during storage up to 40% of total production, mainly in developing countries. Alternatives for pest management have been explored, including the implementation of hermetic storage structures and the application of chemical insecticides. Nevertheless, in low-income regions, both strategies are rarely accessible to smallholders. Modern breeding programs have endeavored to develop insect-resistant varieties, which diminish postharvest pest losses. In this review, we report the current status and advances in maize kernel-pest interactions, the bases and mechanisms of kernel resistance and their biotechnological perspectives. We demonstrate that the comprehension of resistance mechanisms has been fundamental for the development of new productive and resistant varieties, representing a sustainable alternative for developing countries. Finally, we analyse the biotechnological perspectives of natural kernel resistance in global food security.     

Photocatalytic and Photochemical Oxidation of Ethylene: Potential for Storage of Fresh Produce—a Review

The phytohormone ethylene exerts numerous beneficial and detrimental effects on postharvest quality and storage life of fruit and vegetables. In view of the current global challenge of reducing postharvest losses and waste of fruit and vegetables, the importance of ethylene management in the supply chain is paramount. For this purpose, various methods have been applied along the supply chain over the years; however, effective management of ethylene under real-time storage and transport conditions still remains a challenging task. This review explores the potential of photocatalytic and photochemical oxidation of ethylene for effective removal of this gas along the value chain of fruit and vegetables. These techniques involve the use of ultraviolet (UV) radiation with or without a catalyst. In photocatalytic oxidation, a semiconductor such as titanium dioxide is essential which acts as a photocatalyst on irradiation with UV light and thus facilitates the oxidation of ethylene at its surface, whereas in photochemical oxidation, extreme short wave (i.e. below 200 nm) vacuum ultraviolet radiation (VUV) consisting of high-energy photons eliminates ethylene in the gaseous state. This review gives a brief overview of current commercial techniques used in ethylene removal and then focuses on the photocatalytic and the photochemical oxidation of ethylene and the combination of both methods. The various factors affecting these processes are also discussed including the advantages and the drawbacks associated with them, and current applications of these methods in fruit and vegetable storage systems are highlighted. In addition, a future outlook on the application of these methods in postharvest storage of fresh produce is given.     

Electronic nose as a tool for early detection of diseases and quality monitoring in fresh postharvest produce: A comprehensive review

Postharvest diseases and quality degradation are the major factors causing food losses in the fresh produce supply chain. Hence, detecting diseases and quality deterioration at the asymptomatic stage of produce enables growers to treat the diseases earlier, maintain quality and reduce postharvest food losses. With the emergence of numerous technologies to detect diseases early and monitor the quality of fresh produce, such as polymerase chain reaction, gas chromatography-mass spectrophotometry, and near-infrared spectroscopy, electronic nose (EN) has also gained acknowledgement and popularity in the past decade as a robust and non-invasive analysis tool to detect odor profile and establish volatile biomarkers for metabolomics databases. However, literature reviewing the EN research on the early detection of diseases in produce after harvest is scarce. The fundamental concept of EN working principles (odor sampling, gas detection, and data acquisition method), as well as the application of EN as a whole, are covered in the first section of the review. An in-depth discussion of the application of EN analysis in the early identification of postharvest diseases and quality monitoring is provided in the subsequent sections, which is the key objective of this comprehensive review. The prospect, limitations, and likely future developments of EN in the postharvest sector are further highlighted in the last section.     

Papaya Fruit Quality Management during the Postharvest Supply Chain

Papayas are popular in tropical and subtropical regions and are being exported in large volumes to Europe, the United States, and Japan. The fruit has a sweet, exotic flavor and is rich in vitamins A and C and antioxidants. However, due to its highly perishable nature, it has not emerged as a major traded fruit. Papayas are highly susceptible to qualitative and quantitative postharvest losses. Maintenance of papaya fruit quality during the supply chain depends on orchard management, harvesting practices, packing operations, postharvest treatments, temperature management, and transportation and storage conditions. Postharvest losses are attributed to mechanical damage, rapid flesh softening, decay, physiological disorders, pest infestation, and improper temperature management. The aim of postharvest technology and management in the supply chain is to provide favorable conditions to extend storage life and retain quality and nutritional attributes. This review focuses on the available research findings to retain overall papaya fruit quality and to reduce postharvest losses during the supply chain via adopting appropriate or novel postharvest technologies.     

餐饮废油资源化利用现状及发展趋势

餐饮废油是良好资源原料,对其再利用研究可有效解决食品安全、废油污染等问题,也可起到补充石油消费的作用。从餐饮废油资源化再利用和环境保护的角度,概况了有代表性的国家对餐饮废油资源化利用的现状及主要利用形式,分析了存在的问题与解决对策,展望了其深化利用的研究方向与发展趋势。     

Reduction of the incidence of postharvest quality losses,and future prospects

Both quantitative and qualitative food losses of extremely variable magnitude occur during all harvest and postharvest stages, from harvesting, through handling, storage, processing and marketing, to final delivery to the consumer. The latest values published indicated that industrialized and developing countries dispose of roughly similar quantities of food. Whereas in developed countries the losses occur at the retailer and consumer stages, in the developing countries the losses occur during the production, harvest, postharvest and processing phases, because of poor infrastructure, low levels of technology, and low investment in food production systems. Quality cannot be improved after harvest, only maintained; therefore it is important to harvest fruits, vegetables and flowers at the proper stage and size and at peak quality. Preharvest production practices and factors such as cultivation practices, water supply, type of soil, environmental temperature and mechanical damage may seriously affect postharvest quality and result in the rejection or downgrading of produce at the point of sale. In addition, after harvest, improper temperature and humidity management as well as packaging and handling may have adverse effects on storage life and quality. Thus, integration of treatment methods calls for specific differential combinations of treatments for each product in each country.     

Maintaining mango (Mangifera indica L.) fruit quality during the export chain

Mangoes are tropical/sub tropical fruit with a highly significant economic importance. Preferable quality attributes include freedom from external damages such as bruises, latex or sap injury and decay, uniform weight, colour, aroma, firmness (with little give away, not soft), shape and size. The fruit is rich in antioxidants and recommended to be included in the daily diet due to its health benefits such as reduced risk of cardiac disease, anti cancer, and anti viral activities. Maintenance of mango fruit quality during the supply chain depends on many aspects including adequate orchard management practices, harvesting practices, packing operation, postharvest treatments, temperature management, transportation and storage conditions, and ripening at destination. Postharvest losses are high during the supply chain due to harvesting fruit at improper maturity, mechanical damage during the whole chain, sap burn, spongy tissue, lenticels discolouration, fruit softening, decay, chilling injury, and disease and pest damage. The aim of postharvest treatments and management practices in the supply chain is to create suitable conditions or environments to extend the storage life and retain the quality attributes, nutritional and functional compositions. This review summarises the available research findings to retain the overall mango fruit quality and to reduce postharvest losses during supply chain by adopting suitable postharvest novel technologies.     

Avocado Fruit Quality Management during the Postharvest Supply Chain

Avocados are a popular subtropical fruit of high economic importance, and the European Union is the biggest importer of the bulk of the fruit coming from countries such as South Africa, Chile, and Israel. The fruit is highly nutritious, being rich in vitamins A, B, C, minerals, potassium, phosphorus, magnesium, iron, and antioxidants. The biggest challenge is that the fruit is highly susceptible to qualitative and quantitative postharvest losses. Successful maintenance of avocado fruit quality during the supply chain depends on many aspects, including adequate orchard management practices, harvesting practices, packing operations, postharvest treatments, temperature management, transportation and storage conditions, and ripening at destination. Postharvest losses are mostly attributed to flesh softening, decay, physiological disorders, and improper temperature management. Management of the supply chain is solely done to provide the fruit with the most favorable conditions to extend storage life, and retain quality and nutritional attributes of the fruit. The focus of this review is therefore to study the findings that have emanated from research done to retain overall avocado fruit quality and to reduce postharvest losses during the supply chain through the adoption of appropriate and novel postharvest technologies.     

营养安全视角下的食品加工应用研究

粮食和营养安全是当前全球关注的一项重要议题,预计到2050年全球人口将达到90亿,意味着需要通过继续增加粮食产量来解决日益复杂的粮食安全问题。与此同时减少从生产到消费整个供应链环节的食物损失浪费,以及通过食品加工为人类提高食品保存期限、营养质量以及食品安全也引起了极大的重视。本文通过文献梳理描述了初级食品生产系统的发展,以及食品加工对人类健康以及营养安全的作用。从未来的发展趋势来看,无论是农业生产部门还是食品加工部门都将面临用更少的资源来生产更多食品的问题。因而本文认为面对世界资源的日益紧张,必须对食品的能量和营养含量加以平衡,促进食品加工环节营养安全的提高,不失为一个良策。     

Determinants and income effect of yam postharvest loss management: evidence from the Zabzugu District of Northern Ghana

Globally, postharvest loss reduction has been emphasized as an effective option for improving food security and environmental sustainability. Yam production in the Zabzugu district of Northern Ghana suffers from high postharvest losses, with varying degrees of economic, social and environmental implications. Improving the welfare of farmers through postharvest loss reduction requires farmers’ effective management of the losses. The purpose of this study is to examine how effectively farmers manage postharvest losses and the rewards derived from such efforts. Using a cross-section of 201 randomly selected yam farmers from major production communities in the Zabzugu district of Northern Ghana, we applied a simultaneous equation modelling approach to examine the contemporaneous correlation between postharvest loss management and income. Results provided evidence that good postharvest loss management improves welfare of yam farmers through increased income earnings and vice versa, especially for those who produce for commercial purposes. On the other hand, subsistence farmers were better at managing postharvest losses, though with lower monetary rewards. The policy implications are that interventions should target farmer education and training to improve the skills of farmers in managing postharvest losses.     

Review on tropical root and tuber crops I. Storage methods and quality changes

The root and tuber crops, including cassava, sweet potato, yams, and aroids, enjoy considerable importance as a vegetable, staple food, or raw material for small‐scale industries at a global level, particularly in the less developed tropical countries. The perishability and postharvest losses of root and tuber crops are the major constraints in the utilization of these crops. Several simple, low‐cost traditional methods are being followed by fanners in different parts of the world to store different root and tuber crops in the fresh state. An account of different storage practices and constraints is reviewed in this article. Some of these methods have been studied and evaluated by different research workers. Several modern techniques, including refrigerated cold storage, freezing, chemical treatments, wax coating, and irradiation, for storing fresh tropical tubers are also reviewed. The pre‐ and postharvest factors to be considered for postharvest storage of different root and tuber crops are incorporated into the review.     

Sustainable diets: Harnessing the nutrition agenda

There has been rapid growth in the global population over the last century and estimates for 2050 are a global population of over 9 billion. These mouths need to be fed and the nutritional quality of the food received will be a key determinant of future health. Alongside this expansion in the world’s population, rapid economic growth in China, India and South America is increasing demand for protein-rich foods, especially meat and dairy products, causing concern about the impact this may have on green house gas emissions. As economies strengthen and dietary and lifestyle patterns become more westernised, the so-called diseases of affluence are becoming ever more evident, often alongside malnutrition. This paper considers these challenges and the need to embed thinking about nutrition into discussions about sustainability of the food supply.     

Postharvest technology for developing countries: challenges and opportunities in research, outreach and advocacy

This article discusses the needs and challenges of developing good, science-based, simple methods for postharvest handling that can be made available in developing countries. Some of the traditional challenges have been successfully met (i.e. identifying causes and sources of losses for key crops, identifying many potential postharvest technologies of practical use for reducing losses), but many challenges remain. These include the characterization of indigenous crops in terms of their unique postharvest physiology (e.g. respiration rate, susceptibility to water loss, chilling sensitivity, ethylene sensitivity), ascertaining the differences between handling recommendations made for well-known varieties and the needs of local varieties of crops, and determining cost effectiveness of scale-appropriate postharvest technologies in each locale and for each crop. Key issues include building capacity at the local level in postharvest science, university teaching and extension, and continued adaptive research efforts to match emerging postharvest technologies to local needs as these continue to change over time. Development of appropriate postharvest technology relies upon many disciplines that are relevant to the overall success of horticulture, i.e. plant biology, engineering, agricultural economics, food processing, nutrition, food safety, and environmental conservation. The expanding pool of new information derived from postharvest research and outreach efforts in these areas can lead in many directions which are likely to have an impact on relieving poverty in developing countries.     

Postharvest processes of edible insects in Africa: A review of processing methods,and the implications for nutrition,safety and new products development

In many African cultures, insects are part of the diet of humans and domesticated animals. Compared to conventional food and feed sources, insects have been associated with a low ecological foot print because fewer natural resources are required for their production. To this end, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations recognized the role that edible insects can play in improving global food and nutrition security; processing technologies, as well as packaging and storage techniques that improve shelf-life were identified as being crucial. However, knowledge of these aspects in light of nutritional value, safety, and functionality is fragmentary and needs to be consolidated. This review attempts to contribute to this effort by evaluating the available evidence on postharvest processes for edible insects in Africa, with the aim of identifying areas that need research impetus. It further draws attention to potential postharvest technology options for overcoming hurdles associated with utilization of insects for food and feed. A greater research thrust is needed in processing and this can build on traditional knowledge. The focus should be to establish optimal techniques that improve presentation, quality and safety of products, and open possibilities to diversify use of edible insects for other benefits.