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Food losses and waste have always been a significant global problem for mankind, and one which has become increasingly recognised as such by policy makers, food producers, processors, retailers, and consumers. It is, however, an emotive subject whereby the extent, accuracy and resolution of available data on postharvest loss and waste are questionable, such that key performance indicators on waste can be misinformed. The nature and extent of food waste differ among developed economies, economies in transition and developing countries. While most emphasis has been put on increasing future crop production, far less resource has been and is still channelled towards enabling both established and innovative food preservation technologies to reduce food waste while maintaining safety and quality. Reducing food loss and waste is a more tractable problem than increasing production in the short to medium term, as its solution is not directly limited, for instance, by available land and water resources. Here we argue the need for a paradigm shift of current funding strategies and research programmes that will encourage the development, implementation and translation of collective biological, engineering and management solutions to better preserve and utilise food. Such multidisciplinary thinking across global supply chains is an essential element in the pursuit of achieving sustainable food and nutritional security. The implementation of allied technological and management solutions is reliant on there being sufficient skilled human capital and resources. There is currently a lack of robust postharvest research networks outside of the developed world, and insufficient global funding mechanisms that can support such interdisciplinary collaborations. There is, thus, a collective need for schemes that encourage inter-supply chain research, knowledge exchange and capacity building to reduce food losses and waste.

Escalona (2017) Compositional changes on colored and light-yellow-fleshed potatoes subjected to two cooking processes, CyTA -

A three-year long experiment was implemented in an early nectarine (Prunus persica L. Batsch cv. Flanoba) commercial orchard to evaluate the effects of deficit irrigation and different crop levels on vegetative growth, plant water status, and fruit yield and quality. Three irrigation treatments were assessed: (i) control, full irrigation (T CTL); (ii) normal practice of the farmer (T FRM); and (iii) regulated deficit irrigation (T RDI), which involved irrigating the crop at the same level as the control (T CTL) during the critical periods of the first year and at 60% T CTL during postharvest. In the last two growing seasons the irrigation was scheduled to maintain the signal intensity (SI) of maximum daily trunk shrinkage (SI MDS = MDS TRDI /MDS TCTL) at different water stress levels depending on the phenological stage: SI = 1.0 (non-water stress) and SI = 1.4 (moderate water stress). Besides, during the last two seasons, the interactions between T CTL and T RDI were studied at five different crop levels, which were obtained by controlling the distance between fruits left on the branches: from very low (16 cm between fruits) to very high (8 cm between fruits). Crop water use efficiency (WUE) of T RDI was higher than in T CTL and T FRM , increasing by around 25% in 2010 and 2011, and around 74% the final year. Interestingly, T FRM increased the WUE from the first year by more than 30%. The yield/annual increase in trunk-cross-sectional area (TCSA) ratio increased in T RDI with respect to the other treatments as the experiment progressed, reaching differences of 53%. Vegetative growth was clearly sensitive to deficit irrigation with a strong correlation between the increase in the water stress integral obtained by midday stem water potential (stem) and the reduction in TSCA. In contrast, fruit production and quality were not affected by water deficit. As regards the interaction between crop level and water deficit, fruit firmness was the only fruit quality parameter studied that presented significant differences, the highest values corresponding to the fruits from T RDI trees and the lowest crop level. In early nectarine trees, the postharvest period can be considered as a non-critical period for applying RDI strategies but only when the water stress integral applied is of low intensity in May and June (much lower than 9 MPa day), in order to limit the decrease in vegetative growth and so not affect the following harvests.

World trade has transformed food retailing and driven the development of technology for the transportation and storage of horticultural products, providing year-round supply of fruit and vegetables. Horticultural produce is highly perishable, as fruit and vegetables continue their metabolic processes that lead to ripening and senescence after harvest, making them ultimately unmarketable. Advanced postharvest technologies are essential for reducing food waste while maintaining high standards of safety and quality. Together with cold storage, controlled atmosphere (CA) and modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) have been applied to alter the produce’s internal and external environment, decreasing its metabolic activity and extending shelf-life. Both CA and MAP have benefitted from technological innovation. Respiratory quotient control has improved the management of conventional and recently developed CA systems; gas scavengers have made MAP more efficient; and the inclusion of natural additives has enhanced food safety across the supply chain. This paper critically reviews the application of new postharvest techniques to manipulate gaseous environments and highlights areas that require further study.

The way RDI was applied affected bioactive fruit composition, being catalase and dehydroascorbic acid good water stress indicators. RDI strategies can be used as field practice, allowing water savings while enhanced healthy compound content in early peaches.

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