Emerging Trends and Progress in Postharvest Management: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Quality Preservation, Loss Reduction, and Sustainability

A special issue of Horticulturae (ISSN 2311-7524). This special issue belongs to the section "Postharvest Biology, Quality, Safety, and Technology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 25 December 2024 | Viewed by 1384

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Food Science Department, Laval University, Quebec, QC G1V 0A6, Canada
Interests: radiation hormesis in plants; post harvest; fruits and vegetables; sensory analysis; antioxidants; plant physiology; food technology; food science
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Guest Editor
Research Center for Food and Development, Department of Horticultural Products, Plant Physiology and Molecular Biology, Carretera Gustavo Enrique Astiazarán Rosas, No. 46, Hermosillo 83304, México
Interests: postharvest physiology; plant molecular biology; plant physiology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Research in postharvest physiology has grown significantly over the past few decades, as evidenced by the increasing number of scientific publications focusing on biology, physiology, and technology. To further advance this field, several important issues and gaps need to be explored. These include the development of innovative storage technologies to optimize conditions such as temperature and humidity to extend the shelf life and preserve the quality of emerging crops. Understanding the mechanisms for maintaining and enhancing sensory qualities of products during storage and transport is also key. In parallel, research should aim at strategies to mitigate postharvest diseases and disorders, such as the development of organic fungicides, and the elucidation of the molecular mechanisms underlying senescence and ripening processes. Meeting sustainability challenges, understanding consumer preferences, and integrating new technologies such as artificial intelligence into postharvest practices are also critical to advancing the field and improving agricultural productivity and food security.

In this Special Issue, we welcome articles (original research papers, reviews, opinions, perspectives, and methods) focusing on these elements across various levels, including transcriptome analysis, proteome studies, metabolome investigations, grafting biology, and postharvest biology.

Dr. Arturo Duarte Sierra
Prof. Dr. Martín-Ernesto Tiznado-Hernández
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Horticulturae is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • postharvest physiology
  • storage technologies
  • artificial intelligence

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Review

21 pages, 4247 KiB  
Review
An Overview of Low-Cost Approaches for the Postharvest Storage of Fruits and Vegetables for Smallholders, Retailers, and Consumers
by Mohamed Hawali Bata Gouda and Arturo Duarte-Sierra
Horticulturae 2024, 10(8), 803; https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae10080803 - 30 Jul 2024
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Abstract
Food loss and waste occur throughout the food supply chain and represent food security and environmental, economic, and societal problems. Fresh fruit and vegetables contribute to over 40% of global food loss and waste. A significant portion of fruit and vegetables loss takes [...] Read more.
Food loss and waste occur throughout the food supply chain and represent food security and environmental, economic, and societal problems. Fresh fruit and vegetables contribute to over 40% of global food loss and waste. A significant portion of fruit and vegetables loss takes place on the farm during postharvest handling in developing countries, which is linked to smallholders’ financial and geographic constraints in purchasing modern postharvest handling technologies. While in developed countries, waste is the main problem identified at the retail and consumption levels because of inadequate logistics management, storage, and consumer behavior. The loss and waste deprive the population of a significant quantity of healthy food. To address this challenge, cost-effective, easy-to-use, and affordable approaches could be supplied to stakeholders. These strategies encompass the utilization of shading, low-cost packaging, porous evaporative cooling, zero-energy cooling chambers, and pot-in-pot coolers, for reductions in loss in developing countries. Meanwhile, in developed countries, biosensors, 1-methylcyclopropene, and imaging processing are employed to assess the quality of fresh fruit and vegetables at both retail and consumer levels. By exploring these methods, the review aims to provide smallholders, retailers, and consumers with efficient methods for improving produce operating techniques, resulting in reduced losses and waste and higher income. Full article
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