Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
that also needs to be taken into account in the context of supply chain management.
Despite this, numerous technological advances have been shown to reduce waste
and extend availability; yet it is questionable whether all technologies are sustain-
able in the long-term. The ubiquity of low temperature storage in recent decades
has helped to significantly reduce postharvest waste of fruit and vegetables. Most in
the postharvest community believe that maintaining the cool chain is a pre-requisite
before any other technologies are considered. It is true that cold storage can vastly
increase postharvest life. But the overreliance on cooling systems in developed sup-
ply chains and allied just-in-time logistics may not be sustainable or resilient in the
long term.
Alternative or supplementary technologies which might allow for extended post-
harvest life without the over-reliance of cool storage may become more common
place. For instance, the targeted use of next generation controlled atmosphere stor-
age (e.g. ultra low oxygen and dynamic controlled atmosphere systems (Watkins
2008a ), ethylene control, genetic modification, and novel packaging innovations
may allow for products to be stored at slightly higher temperatures.
The removal of ethylene and/or inhibition of its action in stored environments
are fundamental to maintaining the postharvest quality of most climacteric produce.
In recent years, however, there has been a paucity of research on developing new
and more efficacious ethylene scrubbing materials. In contrast, there has been an
exponential increase in research using the ethylene binding inhibitor 1-MCP (Lu
et al. 2008 ). Despite availability of various ethylene scrubbing technologies (e.g.
high temperature catalytic degradation, activated carbon) most commercial ethyl-
ene control systems rely on both adequate ventilation (often periodic) and oxida-
tion of ethylene using potassium permanganate. Ventilation, however, is not ap-
propriate in sealed environments (e.g. controlled atmosphere or some packaging
formats) or where precise ethylene control is required. Ethylene supplementation
has been shown to extend storage life of onions and potatoes even though they are
low ethylene producers Cools et al. ( 2011 ). Ethylene inhibition using substances
like 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP) (Blankenship and Dole 2003 ; Watkins 2006 ;
Watkins 2008b ; Lu et al. 2008 ) and ethylene scrubbers (Terry et al. 2007 ; Smith
et al. 2009 ; Meyer and Terry 2010 ; Elmi et al. 2012 ) have been shown to improve
postharvest storage.
Future Outlook
The disparity in quality of fresh produce between developed and developing econo-
mies is unsustainable. Yet, despite this realization and much talk, little in the way
of a global consensus and viable action planning has been forthcoming. Developed
economies have had an unparalleled period of relative and sustained growth until
2008 and this has inevitably affected fresh produce supply chains. The large multi-
national retailers continue to dominate at the expense of less efficient outlets that do
not possess the market intelligence, buyer power, convenience offerings and mass
market appeal. The future dominance of emerging markets is becoming more like-
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