scholarly journals Strengthening agriculture-nutrition linkages to improve consumption of nutrient-dense perishable foods in India - existing evidence and way forward

Author(s):  
Kiruthika Selvaraj ◽  
Ankita Mondal ◽  
Bharati Kulkarni

The triple burden of malnutrition in India is largely contributed by poor quality diets lacking adequate intake of nutrient dense perishable foods (NDPFs) - milk, eggs, fruits and vegetables. This is intriguing because India is one of the largest producers of NDPFs. This review examines possible reasons for this disparity. Poor post-harvest infrastructure, price volatility, unorganized supply chains, long-standing government policies favouring cereals and increasing consumer preference of convenience foods are identified as major reasons for the low intake of NDPFs. While nutrition-sensitive agriculture interventions appear promising to improve intakes of NDPF, stronger evidence is needed to scale up these interventions.

2018 ◽  
Vol 48 (4) ◽  
pp. 561-578 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anil Panghal ◽  
D.N. Yadav ◽  
Bhupender S. Khatkar ◽  
Himanshu Sharma ◽  
Vikas Kumar ◽  
...  

Purpose Fruits and vegetables, being good source of energy, health promoting and protecting compounds with unique taste and flavor, are attracting consumers since ages. These horticultural produces start deterioration just after harvest; therefore, their proper storage is must during transportation and storage to retain maximum quality parameters and for good market value. Best storage conditions are required to prevent growth of micro flora and to maintain the nutritional values of harvested produce. Retailers and processors in every corner of world want to move toward the cheaper ways to increase the shelf life and texture of horticultural crops for better consumer preference. The purpose of this paper is to make consumers and researchers aware about different post harvest malpractices in fresh fruits and vegetables. Design/methodology/approach Lot of chemicals like colors, artificial ripening agents, sweeteners and waxes are applied on surface of horticulture produce to siphon off money from consumers, and these have adverse health effects directly or indirectly. Various regulatory agencies have launched various programs, acts and laws for monitoring and avoiding such unhealthy ways. Regulatory bodies launched training programs also for the food handlers and consumers to ensure the food safety from farm to fork. Findings This paper will throw light on different malpractices followed by retailers to manipulate the quality which causes adverse health effects and to create consumer awareness regarding such malpractices. Originality/value The paper emphasizes on current malpractices followed by retailers to mislead the consumers about fruits’ and vegetable’ quality by using sweeteners, colors and other chemical. On prolonged consumption, such substances lead to major health issues such as attention disorder.


2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 455-461
Author(s):  
Gabriela M. Baia ◽  
Otniel Freitas-Silva ◽  
Murillo F. Junior

Fruits and vegetables are foods that come into contact with various types of microorganisms from planting to their consumption. A lack or poor sanitation of these products after harvest can cause high losses due to deterioration and/ or pathogenic microorganisms. There are practically no post-harvest fungicides or bactericides with a broad spectrum of action that have no toxic residual effects and are safe. However, to minimize such problems, the use of sanitizers is an efficient device against these microorganisms. Chlorine is the most prevalent sanitizing agent because of its broad spectrum, low cost and well-established practices. However, the inevitable formation of disinfection by-products, such as trihalomethanes (THMs) and haloacetic acids (HAAs), is considered one of the main threats to food safety. Alternative sanitizers, such as chlorine dioxide (ClO2) and ozone, are becoming popular as a substitute for traditional post-harvest treatments. Thus, this review addresses the use of chlorine, chlorine dioxide and ozone emphasizing aspects, such as usage, safe application, spectrum of action and legislation. In order to ensure the quality and safety of final products, the adoption of well-prepared sanitation and sanitation programs for post-harvest fruits and vegetables is essential.


Agronomy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 788
Author(s):  
Elazar Fallik ◽  
Zoran Ilić

More food with high nutritional content will be needed to feed the growing global human population, which is expected to reach 10 billion by 2050. Fruits and vegetables contain most of the minerals, micronutrients, and phytonutrients essential for human nutrition and health. The quantity of these phytochemicals depends on crop genetics, weather and environmental factors, growth conditions, and pre-harvest and post-harvest treatments. These phytochemicals are known to have anti-cancer properties and to regulate immunity, in addition to hypolipidemic, antioxidant, anti-aging, hypotensive, hypoglycemic, and other pharmacological properties. Physical treatments have been reported to be effective for managing several post-harvest diseases and physiological disorders. These treatments may affect the external, internal, and nutritional qualities of fruits and vegetables. Therefore, the aim of this review is to summarize the information recently reported regarding the use of physical treatments applied either directly or in combination with other means to maximize and maintain the phytochemical content of fresh and fresh-cut or processed fruits and vegetables.


2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (5) ◽  
pp. 107
Author(s):  
Caitlin Gearhart ◽  
Kurt A. Rosentrater

Because of the growth of gluten intolerance and Celiac disease, there is growing interest in development of gluten-free foods. Beyond just being gluten-free, such foods can also have other positive nutritional benefits to human health. Extrusion processing is commonly used to produce a wide variety of human food products. Gluten-free grains can be a processing challenge, however, due to lack of proper binding, which can lead to poor quality food products. This research explores how extrusion parameters impacted the quality of amaranth- and quinoa-based extrudates. The specific objectives of this project included extruding each of the grains, then measuring extrudate properties, such as color, unit density, expansion ratio, and durability. Both the quinoa and amaranth were extruded as raw grain, as well as ground to 2mm and 1mm particle sizes. Other experimental conditions included moisture contents of 20% and 40% (d.b.), and extruder screw speeds of 50 rpm and 100 rpm. All treatments were successfully extruded, and all extrudates had high quality attributes, making this the first time either quinoa or amaranth was extruded without any binding ingredients. This study provides information useful for commercial scale-up.


2012 ◽  
Vol 6 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 27-33 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harry Bremmers ◽  
Bernd Van der Meulen ◽  
Zorica Sredojevi ◽  
Jo Wijnands

Recent price movements have put food supply chains under pressure. On the one side, upward price tendencies on commodity markets result in higher costs to processing firms. On the other side, these firms are confronted with a strong retail sector that is able to prevent compensation to protect consumers’ and own economic interests. Regulatory impediments of European law, especially with respect to foodstuffs, can adversely be utilized as barriers to protect the interest downstream the supply chain. The problem is that legal-economic instruments which can serve to smooth price volatility in supply markets can also opportunistically be used at the expense of the middlesection in food supply chains (i.e., mainly small and medium sized producers). The aim of this article is to identify the legal-economic mechanisms that effect price transfers in food supply chains in the European Union and define policy adjustments to improve pricing mechanisms, while safeguarding the interests of the processing industry. Policy alternatives to improve the smooth functioning of notably intermediate markets in food supply chains are the restructuring of competition law, improved processor information management and creating transparency of value added in the supply chain by means of labelling devices.


2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guenevere Perry ◽  
Diane Williams

The consumer demand for fresh fruits and vegetables increases every year, and farmers need a low cost novel method to reduce post-harvest loss and preserve the quality of fresh fruits and vegetables. This study identifies a method to induce soil bacteria to biosynthesize a nitrile compound that potentially enters the plants tissue and negatively affects climacteric ripening and delays the ripening process at 20-30˚C. This study used soil rich with soil microbes, to delay the ripening of climacteric fruit. The soil was treated with nitrogen, a heavy metal, and ethylene gas. Ethylene induced the soil to delay the ripening of organic bananas and peaches. A prototype transportation container maintained fruit fresh for up to 72 h at 20-30˚C. The fruit retained color, firmness, texture, no bruising and minimal spotting. The soil also prevented fungal infection in all samples. GC-MS analysis suggests ethylene induced the soil microbes to release an acetonitrile compound into the gaseous environment. The nitrile is released in low concentrations, but mature plants (fruits) contain very low levels of indole-3-acetonitrile (IAN) or indole-3-acetic acid (IAA). The nitrile may obstruct or modify the mature plants (fruit) late stages development process, thus delay the climacteric ripening process and retarding the physiological and phenotypic effects of fruit ripening. We believe this study may have strong applications for post-harvest biotechnology.


2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 51-59
Author(s):  
Fabíola Pansani Maniglia ◽  
Daniele Mendonça Santos ◽  
Franciele Cristina Maria De Oliveira ◽  
Júlio César Ribeiro

A baixa qualidade da alimentação e o sedentarismo representam riscos para o acúmulo de gordura corporal e desenvolvimento de doenças já na juventude. O objetivo do estudo foi investigar o consumo alimentar e o estado nutricional de alunos do curso de Enfermagem por meio de atividade prática em uma disciplina curricular relacionada à nutrição. Trata-se de um estudo transversal feito com as informações obtidas durante o desenvolvimento de uma atividade da disciplina denominada “Aspectos nutricionais na assistência de enfermagem”, na qual participaram 76 estudantes maiores de 18 anos. As informações nutricionais foram obtidas por meio de entrevista em pares, registro de um padrão alimentar e aplicação de um Questionário de Frequência Alimentar. Os integrantes do estudo eram na maioria mulheres (80,3%) e a idade média da amostra foi de 25,3 ± 7,3 anos. Muitos indivíduos apresentaram ingestão hídrica insuficiente, a qual se correlacionou negativamente com o consumo de refrigerante (r= -0,254 p=0,029). 48,8% da amostra estava acima do peso corporal e 75% eram sedentários. O fracionamento alimentar foi considerado satisfatório, mas o consumo de frutas e hortaliças foi abaixo das recomendações (0,6±0,9; 1,7±1,2 porções). Houve alto consumo de açúcar e gordura, identificado por itens, como o refrigerante e alimentos fritos. Acredita-se que a disciplina relacionada à nutrição, presente na grade curricular do curso, possa servir como uma importante ferramenta de estímulo a melhores hábitos de vida, partindo de práticas alimentares mais adequadas.Palavras-chave: Consumo alimentar. Estado nutricional. Estudantes. EVALUATION OF FOOD CONSUMPTION AND NUTRITIONAL STATUS OF UNDERGRADUATE NURSING STUDENTS ABSTRACT: The poor quality of diet and the sedentary lifestyle increase the risk of body fat accumulation and the development of diseases as early as the youth. The objective of the study was to investigate the food consumption and the nutritional status of students of the Nursing course through practical activity in a curricular discipline related to nutrition. This is a cross-sectional study carried out with the information obtained during the development of an activity of the discipline called "Nutritional Aspects in Nursing Care", in which 76 students older than 18 years participated. The nutritional information was obtained by a paired interview, recording a food pattern and applying a Food Frequency Questionnaire. The study participants were mostly female (80.3%) and the mean age of the sample was 25.3 ± 7.3 years. Many subjects presented insufficient water intake, which correlated negatively with the soda consumption (r = -0.254 p = 0.029). 48.8% of the sample was overweight and 75% were sedentary. The number of meals was considered satisfactory, but consumption of fruits and vegetables was below the recommendations (0.6 ± 0.9, 1.7 ± 1.2 portions). There was high consumption of sugar and fat, identified by items such as soda and fried foods. It is believed that the discipline related to nutrition, present in the curriculum of the course, can serve as an important tool to stimulate better life habits, starting from more appropriate eating practices.Keywords: Food consumption. Nutritional status. Students.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sasi Madhan ◽  
Christophe Espírito Santo ◽  
Luís P. Andrade . ◽  
Pedro D. Silva . ◽  
Pedro D. Gaspar .

Active packaging aims to extend the shelf life of fruits and vegetables using active agents such as Oxygen, Carbon-di-oxide, ethylene scavengers and moisture absorber. Intelligent packaging provides information about the fruits quality inside the package to the customer and this packaging technology detects the internal changes of fruits and vegetables using sensors and indicators. Further to improve the post-harvest storage PCM such as Rubitherm can be used depending on the package box dimension to remove the field heat from the products and maintain its temperature with low variation during transport and display. Gel packs having less weight with PET and PS can also be an alternate method in the packaging. The application of these technologies may lead to a revolution in post-harvest storage, transportation, and further retail sale. This paper reviews the theoretical principles of food packaging and recent developments in packaging technologies using PCMs. Keywords: Active packaging, Intelligent packaging, Phase change materials, Shelf life extension, Fruits


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