Neuro-fuzzy modeling of pulp temperature in rapid cooling chamber.

Horticulture is an important sector for economic development and contributes to increased food security and improves the populations’ nutrition intake. Horticultural crop production (Fruits and vegetables) is the major farming system in Ethiopia and farmers have willingness to increase the production and productivity of the crops even if it faces many challenges. Post-harvest loss of fruit and vegetable is a matter of great economic concern in agriculture. The post-harvest systems covers the period that runs from exit from the field to the time of consumption.Post-harvest loss is a global problem but it is more critical in developing countries. Post-harvest losses can be measured both by quality and quantity losses. The major causes of postharvest losses can be classified into direct /primary (technical origin) and indirect /secondary (socio economic origin) factors. The extent of post-harvest losses may vary greatly among commodities, production areas, season of production, ways of handling, management practices and economic status of the country. Higher postharvest losses not only reduce the availability of fruits but also result in increase in per unit prices of the produce and thus limit the accessibility by the majority of community segments. Postharvest loss as going beyond the loss of the actual crop to include loss in the environment, resources, labor needed to produce the crop and livelihood of the individual involved in the production process. Currently there are limited literatures to review on the cause and extent of postharvest losses of fresh fruits and vegetables in Ethiopia due to lack of research works in the sector. Although, it is possible to estimate such losses of perishables horticultural commodity based on the annual production data of central statistics agency (CSA) and food and agricultural organization of the country (FAO). It is too early to reach a conclusive recommendation since limited study were conducted in the cause and extent of post harvest loss of horticultural crops. Hence, further studies must be done to tackle the cause of post harvest loss of horticultural crops and minimized the extent of post harvest losses. Keywords: Post harvest loss, cause, extent DOI: 10.7176/JBAH/11-13-01 Publication date: July 31 st 2021

IntroductionSub-Saharan Africa loses up to 50% of fruits and vegetables produced annually, with Ghana alone reporting post-harvest losses ranging between 30 and 50% across the value chain. These losses significantly threaten nutrition security by reducing the availability of essential nutrients in the food system. Capturing these lost nutrients is crucial to promoting healthy and affordable diets. This study protocol presents a community-based randomised controlled trial (RCT) being implemented in the Ho West District of Ghana. The trial aims to investigate the association between post-harvest loss (PHL) of fruits and vegetables and the nutritional status of women and children, while also identifying loss drivers across the value chain.MethodsThis experimental trial study employs an untreated control group design and involves 280 participants, comprising 70 farmers, 70 traders, and 140 women and their children. Socio-demographic data and post-harvest practices will be collected from all participants to estimate nutritional losses. Dietary intake of fruits and vegetables will be assessed using food frequency questionnaires, while food consumption and household hunger will be measured using validated scoring tools. Anthropometric and nutritional measurements will be recorded for women and children using WHO protocols. Women in the intervention arm will receive nutrition education and counselling focused on storage and preservation strategies to reduce food waste.Potential impactThis study will provide evidence on the link between post-harvest loss and nutritional outcomes and inform practical interventions for reducing PHL at the community level. It offers a platform for building capacity among farmers, traders, and caregivers through increased awareness and behaviour change. By integrating nutrition education into PHL mitigation, the findings have the potential to influence food systems policy, improve household nutrition, and contribute to global efforts to reduce food loss. The trial is currently ongoing, and this protocol outlines the study’s design, methodology, and implementation framework.Clinical trial registrationThis trial is registered with the Pan African Clinical Trial Registry (PACTR202310582275172).

Horticultural crops such as fruits and vegetables are very important in human nutrition because when consumed in adequate amounts, they are an important source of vitamins, mineral nutrients and fibre. Processing of fruits and vegetables is very important in the tropics where most of the developing countries like Zimbabwe are located. The magnitude of postharvest losses of fresh fruits and vegetables is estimated to be 5 to 25% in developed countries and 20 to 50% in developing countries depending upon commodity (Kader, 1992). For Zimbabwe’s rural poor, smallholder horticultural production provides extra income when the produce is marketed locally or transported, packed, processed and marketed in distant places, including highly populated local urban areas and internationally. Employment creation, reduction of postharvest losses and enhancing of household food security are also some of the reasons why small holder farmers process their crops. Most fruits and vegetables are highly perishable commodities and if they are not processed they quickly deteriorate due to spoilage and microbial attack. In Zimbabwe, postharvest losses of fruits and vegetables were studied by Masanganise (1994), who estimated the losses to range between 35% and 45% for the small-scale producers. The extent of postharvest losses depends on several factors, such as (i) perishability of the commodity, (ii) environmental factors, (iii) interval between harvest and consumption and (iv) postharvest handling, storage and processing practices. The most widely practised method of fruit and vegetable processing in the smallholder areas is direct sun drying or boiling followed by sun drying especially for vegetables. The problem with this method is that drying conditions may not be clean and considerable quantities of nutrients are lost (Tembo, 1996). Fruits and vegetables can also be processed into high value products like juice, wine, puree, jam and jelly. Processing of fruits and vegetables grown by smallholder farmers has great potential in the tropics. A considerable amount of information already exists on small scale processing of horticultural crops (Richter et al., 1996), however, this would have to be complemented by medium to large scale processing plants located at

Agriculture constitutes a foundational pillar of the Indian economy, contributing nearly 18% to the national Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and ranking second globally in horticultural output. Beyond its economic significance, the sector underpins rural employment, food security, and a wide range of agro-based downstream industries. Despite these strengths, Indian agriculture continues to encounter critical bottlenecks—most notably, post-harvest losses in fruits, which are estimated to range between 6.02% and 15.05%. These losses are predominantly attributed to the lack of accessible and decentralized cold storage infrastructure. Maintaining optimal temperature and humidity levels throughout the cold chain is essential to curtail physicochemical degradation and suppress microbial growth, both of which substantially diminish the quality and shelf life of perishable produce. This study introduces a solar photovoltaic (PV)-driven micro cold storage (MCS) system, specifically engineered for seamless integration with electric vehicles (EVs) to effectively mitigate post-harvest losses in perishable agricultural commodities. The research undertakes a comprehensive performance evaluation of the proposed system, which employs a thermoelectric cooling mechanism powered entirely by solar energy. Emphasis is placed on assessing the system’s thermal, electrical, and microbial preservation capabilities under both static and dynamic operational conditions, highlighting its potential for sustainable and mobile cold chain applications in rural agricultural contexts. The system comprises a 100 Wp polycrystalline solar photovoltaic (PV) module, which supplies power to a 12 V/6A shunt-configured thermoelectric cooler with a 12 L storage capacity via a 12 V/8A solar charge controller. Functioning as an off-grid refrigeration unit, the system is supported by a 12 V/40Ah battery energy storage system. The experimental analysis focuses on assessing the shelf life of Vitis vinifera (grapes) over a one-week storage period by measuring physiological loss in weight (PLW) as the key parameter for evaluating storage efficiency. The refrigeration chamber maintains a controlled temperature range of + 2 °C to + 8 °C. Findings indicate a controlled weight reduction of up to 87.6% in refrigerated grapes compared to those stored under ambient conditions. Also, the system’s performance to maintain proper storage conditions during short-distance transportation (six hours) is evaluated to demonstrate effective farm-to-market connectivity through electric vehicle utilization. The study evaluates the electrical and thermal performance of a system for renewable energy-integrated electric vehicle applications. It also investigates the effectiveness of a solar-powered modified controlled storage (MCS) system in preventing microbial growth and maintaining agro-produce quality during storage and transport. The microbial load, including bacterial, fungal, and yeast populations, was quantified using colony-forming unit (CFU) counts per millilitre to evaluate the system’s efficacy in ensuring food safety. The findings underscore the environmental sustainability and practical applicability of the MCS system in the preservation of perishable agricultural produce. By enabling access to affordable, reliable, and renewable energy sources, the system directly contributes to the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 7, while simultaneously addressing food waste reduction and improving the efficiency and resilience of agro-supply chains.

The study on post-harvest losses of fruits was undertaken at Tshakhuma fruit market in Limpopo Province, South Africa. Fifty women hawkers were randomly selected and interviewed to obtain information on their socio-economic characteristics and post-harvest loss of fruits. Descriptive statistics was used to analyze the data collected. The results indicate that most of the women were in the middle age category (74%) with what can be described as basic education only. Of the five types of common fruits sold, bananas were the most prevalent followed by guavas, avocados, oranges and pawpaw. About 50% of the fruits were lost mainly due to over-ripening as a consequence of lack of proper storage facilities and appropriate technologies. Key words: Assessment, postharvest losses, fruits, banana.

Post-harvest losses in fruits, vegetables, food crops and other perishable commodities, if effectively controlled, could feed millions of people now suffering from hunger and malnutrition in many parts of the world. Probably the heaviest losses occur in fruits and vegetables. Mature fruits and vegetables are highly susceptible to invasion by specific pathogenic micro-organisms. This is because they have a high water and nutrient content. After harvest they are no longer protected by the intrinsic factors which make them resistant during their development on the plant. Growth cracks and mechanical injuries during harvest, transport and storage are also responsible for the losses. The losses vary between various types of fruits and in different seasons of the year. The losses in the soft fruits during the summer months in a tropical region would be far more than in winters in the same area. To meet the world's current and future food demand many developmental programs aimed at increased production and population control have long been initiated all over the world. In the recent years, the potential to control the post-harvest losses has also been recognised as an effective means of increasing the capacity of current level of production 10 feed the existing and the ever increasing population. There is now a better appreciation of the problem both among producer and consumer alike.

Maintenance of optimal low temperatures from the farm to the consumer (cold chain management) is critical to maintenance of the quality of perishable horticultural commodities and minimize deterioration after harvest. Postharvest losses in fruits and vegetables are estimated to range between 40 to 50% mainly due to poor cold chain. Conventional cold rooms are unaffordable for most smallholder farmers. Some low-cost technologies that have been tested and proven to be effective for cold storage of perishable commodities offer reprieve. Three of them including the Coolbot(TM), evaporative charcoal cooler (ECC) and zero energy brick cooler (ZEBC) were evaluated. The results revealed that temperature differences ranging between 2 and 10°C in comparison to ambient room conditions could be attained with the ECC and ZEBC. Furthermore, they significantly retained higher relative humidity, lowered temperature and preserved quality of perishable fruits and vegetables. These technologies can be promoted and scaled-up for adoption among smallholder farmers with the aim of reducing postharvest losses in perishable horticultural commodities.

In Sri Lanka, 70% of 21 million population live in non-urban areas, and agriculture provides livelihood for approximately 40% of them. The agricultural marketing process in the country is a complex operation due to services and functions involved in moving a crop product from where it was produced to where it would finally be consumed. Further, with a wide range of agricultural crops being produced, post-harvest handling process create different degrees of quantitative and qualitative losses in a complex market chain, which are estimated at 20% to 40% for vegetables and 30% - 40% for fruits. Improper and non-scientific post-harvest practices and handling, gaps in integration of cold chain practices & elements with post-harvest process, and lack of knowledge & awareness on many related aspects at grass root farmer level etc. appear to contribute to losses that finally prevent due economic benefits reaching the small-scale producer. In order to increase the effectiveness of post-harvest process handling of fruit and vegetables, appropriate corrective measures targeting small scale producers as well as commercial scale producers need to be popularized and practiced. At small scale producer level, promotion of appropriate low-cost post-harvest practices and procedures, facilitating low-cost cold chain elements and user-friendly information flow mechanism on market situation would certainly help avoid some of the steps that lead to losses. Monitoring system of commercial post-harvest handling process that ensure scientific bulk handling, storage and transportation of fruit and vegetables, properly designed economic centers with well regulated environmentcontrolled storages etc. would greatly reduce loses in bulk handling, ensuring better food security in the island.

Fruits and vegetables, known for their large nutrient potential, are more susceptible to high postharvest loss than other crops. Factors such as perishability, poor post-production handling and storage and processing infrastructures, increase the magnitude of food losses. The postharvest loss of fruits and vegetables in Sub-Saharan Africa ranges from 30% to 50%. One key strategy to overcome such losses is through cold chain integration in value chains. However, most developing countries currently lack the basic infrastructure and management skills needed to support the development of integrated cold chains, particularly in rural areas, where up to 60% of overall food losses occur on the farm and in ‘first-mile’ distribution. Storage of highly perishable produce in a controlled environment with respect to temperature and relative humidity leads to quality and quantity preservation. This contributes to increases in food and nutrition security, household incomes and environmental protection. This review addresses the need for adopting and strengthening measures for the precooling and cold storage of fruits and vegetables to improve their value chains. A range of precooling and cold storage methods, their suitability, energy demands and the constraints on storage and distribution are discussed and recommendations are made on how to improve their accessibility for small-scale farmers in rural communities.

The main objectives of the research were such: to define the concept of cold chain as an object of legal regulation; to find out the content and features of the EU legislation on the safety and quality of meat and meat products during cold chain and its use in Ukraine; to characterize the legal bases of the current legislation of Ukraine on ensuring the safety and quality of meat and meat products during cold chain, to formulate proposals and recommendations aimed at improving the national legislation of Ukraine by approximating it to the EU legislation, which sets requirements for the safety and quality of meat and meat products throughout cold chain. To achieve the abovementioned objectives, the following methods were used: comparative legal, analytical, systemic, dialectical, generalizing, specific-search, structural-functional, semantic, methods of deduction and induction, etc.
 The content and features of the legal regulation of the safety and quality of meat and meat products in the current legislation of the European Union and Ukraine have been clarified.
 For the first time, the definition of the term 'cold chain' has been proposed by reference to it in author's editorial, which should influence its clearer scientific and practical understanding. It is determined that the temperature regimes of cold processing, storage and transportation of meat and meat products in Ukraine are regulated by a large number of legal acts, in particular: national standards of Ukraine (DSTU), technical regulations, technological instructions, rules of transportation, etc.
 It is found that national legal acts do not provide a systematic understanding of the particularities of cold chain legal regulation in the meat processing industry in order to ensure the safety and quality of meat and meat products. As a result of departmental inconsistency, the existing storage temperature parameters for the same product type in different legal acts differ from each other, which does not allow to determine the actual storage periods at different stages of the cold chain.
 In addition, current legal acts in Ukraine do not provide for constant monitoring of the temperature of cold-processed meat and meat products throughout all cold chain units and the hygienic condition of refrigerators throughout the shelf life.
 As a result, the cold chain is very difficult to be controlled and requires a large number of factors to be taken into account in order to bring safe and high-quality meat and meat products to the end consumer. According to the results of the research, proposals and recommendations are formulated to improve the national legislation of Ukraine governing the cold chain in the meat processing industry.

<scp>COVID</scp> ‐19 transmission in cold chain: A safe and green new‐generation cold chain is demanded

Fruits are essential food items as they play a vital role in the diet of humans. Fresh fruits are highly perishable and bulky commodities because they contain high moisture. Hence, their transportation to distant places is costly and their condition on arrival in the importing country may be less than satisfactory. Postharvest loss of fruits in Ethiopia is very high. This could be due to their perishable nature, poor postharvest handling and lack of cheap and appropriate postharvest technology. Hence, much effort is needed in the area of generating efficient, low-cost, indigenous technology that minimizes postharvest loss of fruits. One of these methods is to produce local value-added products through the development of micro- and small-scale agro-industries. Solar drying of fruits is one of such agro-industries that can enhance the shelf life of fruits. Therefore, the main objective of this paper is to review the potentials and possible methods and procedures of solar drying of fruits in Ethiopia with major emphasis on methods of drying and types of solar dryers; nutritive value of dried fruits, influence of drying on quality and utilization methods of dried products; basic procedures for solar drying, and problems and opportunities in the country to begin fruit solar drying as a business. This review demonstrated that Ethiopia has favourable conditions such as increased fruit production, favourable weather for solar drying, cheap labour, strong market linkage, air transport and favourable policy. These conditions favour the establishment of solar drying as a business in the country. Therefore, Ethiopia has to use these windows of opportunities to reduce postharvest loss of fruits and achieve the multiple benefits that can be obtained from solar drying through introduction and adoption of fruit solar drying technologies from abroad and developing appropriate technologies within the country. Key words: Ethiopia, fruits, solar dryers, solar drying.

Fruits and vegetables are perishable crops, which have high moisture content and short shelf life. Most Postharvest losses of fruits and vegetables occur due to lack of proper cold storage. According to most of research and review show, approximates 40-50% fruits and vegetables loss in the supply chain at globally level. In many Africa countries, postharvest losses are not properly documented but experts have projected the losses to be up to 80%. In Ethiopia, postharvest loss of fruits and vegetables is 50% due to lack of appropriate postharvest handling practice and storage technologies. The loss up to 50% could be caused due to biological and environmental factors. In order to reduce postharvest loss of fruits and vegetables the roles of low cost evaporative cooling storage technology is great. Evaporate cooling is the process by which temperature of substance reduced due to cooling effect from evaporation of water. It work best at dry and hot climate area when results in reduction of temperature and increase in relative humidity. This storage technology reduces postharvest losses of fruits and vegetables by controlling temperature, concentration of gases and relative humidity of the storage area. Therefore, the aim of this review paper is to review studies made by several researchers and reviewers on the roles of evaporate storage technologies in postharvest loss reduction of fruits and vegetables. This storage technology of fruits and vegetables produce available for sale increased 42% to 62% and enhances 10-15 % food security. So to mitigate or alleviate high postharvest loss of perishable crops using evaporative storage technology is very important and determinant

PurposeSince the handling of environmentally sensitive products requires close monitoring under prescribed conditions throughout the supply chain, it is essential to manage specific supply chain risks, i.e. maintaining good environmental conditions, and ensuring occupational safety in the cold environment. The purpose of this paper is to propose an Internet of Things (IoT)-based risk monitoring system (IoTRMS) for controlling product quality and occupational safety risks in cold chains. Real-time product monitoring and risk assessment in personal occupational safety can be then effectively established throughout the entire cold chain.Design/methodology/approachIn the design of IoTRMS, there are three major components for risk monitoring in cold chains, namely: wireless sensor network; cloud database services; and fuzzy logic approach. The wireless sensor network is deployed to collect ambient environmental conditions automatically, and the collected information is then managed and applied to a product quality degradation model in the cloud database. The fuzzy logic approach is applied in evaluating the cold-associated occupational safety risk of the different cold chain parties considering specific personal health status. To examine the performance of the proposed system, a cold chain service provider is selected for conducting a comparative analysis before and after applying the IoTRMS.FindingsThe real-time environmental monitoring ensures that the products handled within the desired conditions, namely temperature, humidity and lighting intensity so that any violation of the handling requirements is visible among all cold chain parties. In addition, for cold warehouses and rooms in different cold chain facilities, the personal occupational safety risk assessment is established by considering the surrounding environment and the operators’ personal health status. The frequency of occupational safety risks occurring, including cold-related accidents and injuries, can be greatly reduced. In addition, worker satisfaction and operational efficiency are improved. Therefore, it provides a solid foundation for assessing and identifying product quality and occupational safety risks in cold chain activities.Originality/valueThe cold chain is developed for managing environmentally sensitive products in the right conditions. Most studies found that the risks in cold chain are related to the fluctuation of environmental conditions, resulting in poor product quality and negative influences on consumer health. In addition, there is a lack of occupational safety risk consideration for those who work in cold environments. Therefore, this paper proposes IoTRMS to contribute the area of risk monitoring by means of the IoT application and artificial intelligence techniques. The risk assessment and identification can be effectively established, resulting in secure product quality and appropriate occupational safety management.

In the food industry, quality and safety issues are associated with consumers’ health condition. There is a growing interest in applying various noninvasive sensorial techniques to obtain quickly quality attributes. One of them, hyperspectral/multispectral imaging technique has been extensively used for inspection of various food products. In this paper, a stacking-based ensemble prediction system has been developed for the prediction of total viable counts of microorganisms in beef fillet samples, an essential cause to meat spoilage, utilizing multispectral imaging information. As the selection of important wavelengths from the multispectral imaging system is considered as an essential stage to the prediction scheme, a features fusion approach has been also explored, by combining wavelengths extracted from various feature selection techniques. Ensemble sub-components include two advanced clustering-based neuro-fuzzy network prediction models, one utilizing information from average reflectance values, while the other one from the standard deviation of the pixels’ intensity per wavelength. The performances of neurofuzzy models were compared against established regression algorithms such as multilayer perceptron, support vector machines and partial least squares. Obtained results confirmed the validity of the proposed hypothesis to utilize a combination of feature selection methods with neurofuzzy models in order to assess the microbiological quality of meat products.