Trends in Food Science & Technology 109 (2021) 536–551

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Trends in Food Science & Technology

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/tifs

A comprehensive review of cold chain logistics for fresh agricultural

products: Current status, challenges, and future trends
Jia-Wei Han a, Min Zuo b, Wen-Ying Zhu a, Jin-Hua Zuo c, En-Li Lü d, Xin-Ting Yang a, *
a
National Engineering Research Center for Information Technology in Agriculture, Beijing, 100097, China
b
National Engineering Laboratory for Agri-product Quality Traceability, Beijing Technology and Business University, Beijing, 100048, China
c
Beijing Vegetable Research Center, Beijing Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences, Beijing, 100097, China
d
College of Engineering, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, 510642, China

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Background: Cold chain logistics (CCL) is not only vital for maintaining the quality and safety of fresh agro-
Fresh agricultural products products and reducing losses but also provides important support to help increase farmer income and thereby
Cold chain promote the revitalization of rural industry in China. In recent years, numerous studies have focused on
Food safety
improving the efficiency and sustainability of CCL, and the results have important implications for promoting
Digital development
Energy conservation
innovation, applying technologies, improving facilities and equipment, and optimizing management in the CCL
China industry.
Scope and approach: This review discusses active research areas, gaps in the existing state of research, and future
research challenges for CCL. Furthermore, we summarize the current status of China’s CCL industry and tech

­
nology and compare the state of CCL development in China with that in more developed countries in terms of
infrastructure, data handling, and national policies.
Key findings and conclusions: The future trends of CCL involve low carbon strategies and intelligent innovation,
which are the key to meeting environmental concerns and the evolving needs of the market. Advances in next-
generation information technology (including IoT, blockchain, AI, etc.) have significantly accelerated the
modernization of CCL. Meanwhile, attaining these dual objectives of a low-carbon footprint and intelligent
innovation requires cooperation between national regulators, industry, consumers, and interdisciplinary experts.
A key finding of this review is that national policy and financial intervention in China are expected to be the main
forces behind renovating infrastructure and upgrading standardization, which is required to narrow the CCL
development gap between China and other more developed nations.

requires the coordinated development of the various links in the CCL

1. Introduction
Cold chain logistics (CCL) of fresh agricultural products refers to the
food supply logistics chain that uses refrigeration technology to
continuously maintain a suitable temperature and humidity environ
­
ment for perishable products such as fruits, vegetables, dairy, meats, and
fish (Mercier et al., 2017; Ndraha et al., 2018). An integral and efficient
cold chain system must maintain perishable food within the desired
temperature and humidity range from the collection point (be it harvest,
slaughter, or fishing) to the point of final consumption. Any breaks in
this chain (i.e., excursions in temperature or/and humidity beyond the
desired ranges) render the entire cold chain useless. Therefore, main
­
taining CCL integrity is crucial to reduce food loss and waste, and this
and data sharing and transparency between the relevant enterprises and
stakeholders.
After harvest, fruits and vegetables remain alive and have vital signs.
The vital processes such as respiration, evaporation, ethylene release,
and other disseminations of living biological entities continue without
interruption and consume their organic material (e.g., sugars and
starch), thereby degrading of the quality of fresh produce (e.g., reducing
nutrient content, functional components, hardness) and limiting its shelf
life. Throughout the supply chain, the physical, chemical, and biological
changes in fresh produce are affected by intrinsic factors (e.g., thermal
and moisture diffusion in the produce, climactic factors, non-climactic
factors) and extrinsic factors (e.g., compression, impacts, vibration,
temperature, concentration of ethylene, O2, and CO2). Of these,

* Corresponding author.Room 1110, Building A, Beijing NongkeMasion, 11# ShuguangHuayuan Middle Road, Banjing, Haidian District, Beijing, 100097, China.
E-mail address: yangxt@nercita.org.cn (X.-T. Yang).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tifs.2021.01.066
Received 26 October 2020; Received in revised form 19 January 2021; Accepted 23 January 2021
Available online 30 January 2021
0924-2244/© 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
J.-W. Han et al. Trends in Food Science & Technology 109 (2021) 536–551

Nomenclature MAS Modified-atmosphere storage

MeT Medium-temperature
Adv Advantages NPAL National policies and legislation
CACS Controlled atmosphere cold store OP Optimized performance
CAS Cold air storage ORDC Open Refrigerated Display Cabinet
CC Cryogenic cooling (i.e., the liquid nitrogen or solid CO2 PC Phase change
evaporates) PCMs Phase-change materials
CCL Cold chain logistics PLA Polylactic acid
CFD Computational fluid dynamics QuF Quick-freezing
COP Coefficient of performance RC Room cooling
CP Cooling principle RDCs Refrigerated display cabinets
CRDC Closed Refrigerated Display Cabinet RT Refrigerated transport
DDL Digital development level RVs Refrigerated vehicles
Disad. Disadvantages RFID Radio-frequency identification
DM Different methods RW Refrigerated warehouse
EC Energy Consumption SIC Slurry Ice cooling
FAC Forced-air cooling SP Suitable produce
FAO Food and Agriculture Organization TC Thermal Comfort
FBO Food business operator TD Temperature Distribution
FDT Future development trend UT Ultralow-temperature
FQ Food Quality VARS Vapor absorption refrigeration system
HC Hydro-cooling VC Vacuum cooling
HiT High-temperature VCC Variable capacity compressors
HT Heat transfer VCRS Vapor compression refrigeration system
HACCP Hazard analysis and critical control point VIPs Vacuum insulation panels
IC Infrastructure construction VJRS Vapor jet refrigeration system
IoT Internet of Things VSLC Variable-speed linear compressors
LNC Liquid nitrogen cooling WP Working principle
LoT Low-temperature WSNs Wireless sensor networks
MAP Modified atmosphere packaging

temperature is the single most important environmental factor affecting
the deterioration rate and postharvest lifetime (Han, Ruiz-Garcia, et al.,
2018). Fresh meat products also contain nutrients favorable to microbial
growth, which renders these foods more sensitive to temperature fluc
­
tuations and more vulnerable to defects in CCL. The deterioration of
developed (i) improve the efficiency of CCL (e.g., cooling rate, cooling
uniformity and stability, and packaging design) (Duan et al., 2020; Han,
Ruiz-Garcia, et al., 2018),: (ii) ensure the integrity of the cold chain and
its precise control (e.g., dynamic monitoring and shelf-life prediction)
(Bouzembrak et al., 2019), and (iii) promote the ecological and sus

­
meat products is generally caused by the growth of bacteria and/or tainable development of the cold chain (e.g., reduce energy consump

mold, which increases the risk of foodborne diseases in humans and thus
presents a risk for public health.
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO, 2015)
reported that, especially in developing countries, food losses occur
mainly in the post-harvest circulation stage and are due to inappropriate
postharvest handling and poor cold chain, transport, and climate control
resulting from a lack of appropriate logistics infrastructure and of
knowledge of how to handle perishables (Goedhals-Gerber & Khumalo,
2020). Therefore, appropriate and uninterrupted temperature control
from harvesting, slaughter, or fishing to the market is important to
preserve the original organoleptic properties of food, maintain food
safety, reduce waste, minimize the risk of foodborne diseases, and
improve the overall economic performance of the cold chain.
In addition, ensuring a suitable humidity environment for foodstuffs
is important for reducing water loss and maintaining the sensory quality
of fresh agro-products, which directly affects consumer buying de
­
cisions, market prices, and sales volume and thus affects the overall
economics of the food industry. Inappropriate humidity is not conducive
to maintaining the quality and safety of fresh foods; for example, low
humidity not only increases moisture loss and accelerates the deterio
­
ration of sensory quality (e.g., pigments, colors, and texture) but also
reduces the thawing efficiency for frozen foods. High humidity promotes
the growth of bacteria, thereby enhancing the incidence of disease and
decay, especially for meat products.
Optimizing the CCL of fresh produce has thus become the main focus
and of researchers in the field, and three main research directions have
­
tion, cost, and environmental impact) (Wu et al., 2019). A variety of
promising technologies (e.g., the Internet of Things, cloud computing,
big data, blockchain, AI) is available on the market today to improve the
integrated service level of CCL, which is also a major direction of future
innovation and research direction for the transformation and upgrading
of the CCL to digital, intelligent, efficient, and ecological systems.
Several previous studies have provided detailed reviews of various
technologies (e.g., numerical simulations, food packaging, Internet of
Things), challenges, and future trends in CCL. However, these reviews
focus on specific technologies (Han, Ruiz-Garcia, et al., 2018; Zhao
et al., 2016), a single link in the cold chain (Brosnan & Sun, 2001; Duan
et al., 2020), or a specific research topic (Ndraha et al., 2018), whereas
few studies provide a comprehensive review of the field (i.e., its research
priorities, the current state of research, future challenges and trends). In
particular, few studies provide a detailed overview of the development
status and deficiencies of China’s CCL or compares the gap between
China and developed countries in terms of infrastructure, data handling,
and national policies. In addition, being one of the major focuses of
international research, new research from around the world on the
problem of food safety, waste, and CCL is appearing continuously.
Consequently, this paper comprehensively reviews CCL topics and
discusses the progress and shortcomings of current research on CCL for
fresh agro-products. The challenges facing this field are also presented to
further improve the comprehensive performance and economics of CCL.
Furthermore, the current state of China’s CCL is summarized in terms of
infrastructure, data handling, and national policies and legislation. In

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J.-W. Han et al.
addition, to understand the future policy direction and development
needs of China, we discuss the current CCL development gap between
China and developed countries. Finally, we suggest future research di
­
rections to maintain food quality and safety, promote sustainable,
environmentally friendly development, and improve the intelligent
management of CCL.
2. Current research topics for CCL
2.1. Optimization of CCL efficiency
The efficiency of CCL for fresh produce depends mainly on its
properties (e.g., thermophysical properties, physiological mechanisms,
geometry, internal structure), infrastructure maintenance and moder
­
nity (e.g., precooling, storage, transportation, marketing, and domestic
refrigeration), and management practices (e.g., cooling methods, stan
­
dardization, packaging materials, produce packing arrangements)
(Goedhals-Gerber & Khumalo, 2020). To improve the uniformity of
temperature and humidity and the quality of fresh goods, several recent
studies have analyzed, across the entire cold chain, the airflow and the
heat and mass transfer within packaging, which helps to optimize
packaging design (packaging thickness and vent area, shape, number,
position, etc.) and improve the precise control of the product quality and
environment. However, quality loss, energy cost, the mechanical
strength of packaging, and environmental impact are also important
parameters for determining the optimal packaging design and control
parameters (e.g., airflow rate, temperature, run time, and mounting
position of refrigeration unit), so future efforts should be directed to
­
ward a more integrated analysis, in which all parameters are evaluated
simultaneously. In addition, most current studies focus on optimizing
the efficiency of a single cold chain stage or a specific experimental
environment, thereby lacking an overall perspective of the cold chain,
which is especially serious if the cold chain is broken at some point. The
cold chain is thus an organic combination of multiple circulation stages,
with each stage being interrelated and interdependent. The total CCL
efficiency is affected by modifications of the operating standards of any
given stage. Therefore, enhancing the effectiveness of upstream and
downstream enterprises, implementing collaborative supervision, and
ensuring the quality and safety of fresh produce throughout the cold
chain requires comprehensive studies and analyses based on actual cold
chain scenarios (or CCL integrity).
2.2. CCL integrity and accurate control
Given the constant interaction between fresh food and the environ
­
ment, breaks in the cold chain may accelerate the rate of food spoilage
and even make subsequent application of the cold chain irrelevant. In
recent years, to maintain cold chain integrity and accurately monitor the
low-temperature environment and food quality, automated monitoring
systems have been developed to collect the ambient conditions and
other parameters of the cold chain of fresh produce (e.g., location,
illumination conditions, concentration of heavy metals) by using IoT
technology such as RFID, WSNs, near-field communication, and com
­
pressed sensing technology. This technology allows for real-time
monitoring of food safety and quality, reduces the risk of undetected
breaks in the cold chain, and improves the precision and logistical de
­
cision making (e.g., route optimization, shelf-life prediction, and energy
optimization) (Verdouw et al., 2016).
However, one-dimensional point monitoring is currently the main
way to measure the temperature and humidity of the cold chain envi
­
ronment, and the results provide important parameters for evaluating
whether the temperature and humidity meet the requirements of fresh
produce and whether the food quality and safety are maintained. This
method of judging food-safety is one-sided, subjective, and unscientific
due to problems such as a limited number of sensors and their impre
­
cision, the uneven distribution and/or fluctuation of temperature and
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Trends in Food Science & Technology 109 (2021) 536–551
humidity in all stages of the cold chain, and the temperature and hu
­
midity gradient that exists between the food and the environment,
especially for packed fruits (Tagliavini et al., 2019). Direct monitoring of
the internal temperature and humidity of fresh foodstuffs inevitably
degrades the food integrity, accelerates the rate of spoilage of food, and
increases the risk of cross-contamination between different products. To
resolve this problem, nondestructive monitoring technology (e.g., bionic
sensors, digital twin technology, nanotechnologies) is an important di
­
rection for future research and development. Several nondestructive
methods have been reported and used over the past decade to detect
internal and external quality attributes of fruit or meat in a rapid,
cost-effective, and non-invasive manner [e.g., spectroscopy (Arendse
et al., 2018), nuclear magnetic resonance (Marcone et al., 2013), and
x-ray computed tomography (Schoeman et al., 2016)]. Some neural
network models have also been developed to dynamically and nonde
­
structively predict the quality or residual shelf life of fresh produce
throughout the supply chain (Han et al., 2019). However, neural net
­
works are prone to fall into local optima due to the connection weights
and biases of the different network layers being randomly initialized at
the beginning of neural network training, which means that the pre
­
diction accuracy relies heavily on training data (the so-called “over
­
fitting” problem). In particular, the precision and generalization of the
neural network model are difficult to meet the practical application
requirements.
2.3. Green and sustainable cold chain logistics
Fresh food demands a suitable and stable temperature and humidity
environment throughout the cold chain and consumes a significant
amount of electricity, which is a major economic cost for the cold chain
stakeholders (manufacturers, suppliers, and retailers) (Han, Zhao, et al.,
2018). According to the FAO (2020), 70% percent of the energy used by
food systems is consumed after the food leaves the farm, i.e., in trans
­
portation, processing, packaging, shipping, storage, marketing, etc. An
estimated one-third of the food produced is lost or wasted every year and
with it an estimated 38% of the energy consumed in food systems (FAO,
2020). The energy consumed in the food industry to maintain product
quality, extend shelf life, and reduce food loss accounts for approxi
­
mately 30% of the world’s energy consumption, and 8% of the electrical
energy used in this industry is for refrigeration (Han, Zhao, et al., 2018).
Thus, minimizing food loss and unnecessary energy consumption during
all phases of the cold chain will improve the overall economics of CCL
and helps to reduce fossil fuel consumption, thereby alleviating some of
the associated environmental problems (especially in the developing
world where electricity comes mainly from coal-fired power plants)
(Azmi et al., 2017). In addition, promoting the sustainable and envi
­
ronmentally friendly development of CCL is also a policy demand for the
economic development of all countries in the world.
3. The stages of the cold chain
The cold chain is an organic combination of four linked systems:
precooling, warehouse refrigeration, refrigerated transport, and mar
­
keting, which differ in sequence and timing (Fig. 1). Each link in the cold
chain is correlated and interdependent, and problems in any link will
increase the loss and waste of food and related human and material
resources and render irrelevant any subsequent links in the cold chain.
The following review presents in detail the current state of research in
this field as well as the challenges and future trends to expect from these
four linked systems. In addition, current research on domestic re
­
frigerators is also discussed.
3.1. Precooling
Before entering the cold chain low-temperature environment, the
first step for fresh agricultural products is precooling, which is critical to
J.-W. Han et al.
Fig. 1. Diagram describing a complete CCL system for different fresh agricultural products.
ensure food safety and extend shelf life. The main purpose of precooling
is to rapidly remove field heat (or carcass temperature) of fresh produce
after harvest, slaughtering, or fishing. This step slows the physi
­
ochemical activities in the produce, slows the development of disease,
and minimizes the destruction of the sensory properties and nutrients. In
addition, precooling reduces the demand for cooling capacity and pre
­
vents large temperature fluctuations in the subsequent cold chain.
Several studies claim that precooling is likely the most important and
critical of all operations for the successful maintenance and storage of
fresh and perishable produce (Brosnan & Sun, 2001). Precooling can be
divided into heat-conduction cooling and phase-transition cooling;
Table 1 lists the applicable scope, advantages, disadvantages, and future
trends of various precooling methods. No single precooling method is
appropriate for all produce, and the choice of the most appropriate
precooling method depends mainly on the specific circumstances, such
as produce species, packaging type, refrigeration temperature, cooling
rate, sensitivity to water, and maturity (for fruits and vegetables) (Duan
et al., 2020).
In recent years, research has focused on enhancing rapid and uniform
cooling of fresh produce (Han, Zhao, et al., 2018), reducing the energy
demands of precooling (Wu et al., 2019), and preventing food loss
(Tagliavini et al., 2019). However, few studies have discussed how the
various precooling methods affect products on the molecular and
cellular scale, which can help in developing a theoretical basis and
reference values to accurately determine and optimize precooling stra
­
tegies (e.g., to determine the best precooling method, the optimum
cooling temperature, and the best time interval between harvesting and
precooling).
In addition, the negative impact of precooling on food quality and
safety can be reduced, especially for meat. The packaging design of fruits
and vegetables is a crucial factor in precooling efficiency, and significant
research efforts have been devoted to optimizing the packaging struc
­
ture. To obtain the optimal packaging structure for a specific product,
numerical simulation using, for example, Computational fluid dynamics
(CFD) has proven to be an effective tool for obtaining detailed infor
­
mation on the local airflow and heat- and mass-transfer processes within
complex packaging structures and has become a major line of research
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Trends in Food Science & Technology 109 (2021) 536–551
into packaging structure optimization in recent years. Several studies
combined experimental measurements and CFD modeling to evaluate
how packaging designs affect cooling efficiency, energy consumption,
and fruit quality (i.e., chilling injury and mass loss). These studies show
the advantages and disadvantages of the various existing packaging
designs and provide a reliable theoretical and experimental basis for
improving the cooling efficiency of existing packaging.
However, most research has concentrated on the optimization of
packaging structure for precooling, which often results in conflicting
packaging design requirements when multiple phases of cold chain
operation are simultaneously targeted. For example, increasing the
number of box vents can improve the cooling rate, throughput, and
cooling uniformity but compromises the mechanical strength of the
packaging, increases chilling injuries and moisture loss, and even in
­
creases the risk of palletized-packaging collapse during subsequent cold
chain manipulations.
Furthermore, given the constantly increasing environmental con
­
cerns and regulations, reducing the environmental impact of food
packaging has become another critical factor to consider in packaging
design. Therefore, future efforts should be directed toward a more in ­
tegrated analysis in which all performance parameters of ventilated
packaging are evaluated simultaneously in a multidisciplinary
approach. More detailed information and suggestions are available in
our previous review papers regarding future research directions for
optimizing precooling and packaging of fruits and vegetables (Han,
Ruiz-Garcia, et al., 2018; Zhao et al., 2016).
3.2. Refrigerated warehouse
A refrigerated warehouse (RW) serves mainly to provide a stable,
suitable, and long-term low-temperature environment to conserve the
quality of fresh agricultural products after precooling. As such, RWs are
a crucial link in the food supply chain and provide centralized storage
and management of goods, maintain a balance between supply and
demand, and regulate the transport capacity of goods. At present, the
common storage methods for fresh agricultural products are cold air
storage (CAS) and modified-atmosphere storage (MAS) (Table 2). CAS
J.-W. Han et al.
Table 1
Applications, limitations, and challenges of various precooling methods.
CP Name SP
HT HC Nonsensitive to water, a large surface area, e.g., corn, mango,
apples, cantaloupe, peaches, root vegetables, chicken, etc.
Remark: ● Adv.: lowest cost than the other methods; no moisture loss;
Better cooling efficiency than room cooling (RC) and forced-air
cooling (FAC).
● Disad.: Large floor space; High risk of cross contamination
between products; Require air drying treatment
● FDT: Improve water recycling and safety; Determine the
optimal water temperature and cooling duration; Improving
the ability to maintain product quality and reduce cross
infection (Zainal et al., 2019).
SIC Low sensitivity to ice and most aquatic products, e.g., broccoli,
spinach, cauliflower and radish, bonito, white shrimp, Atlantic
salmon, and lateolabras janopicus, etc.
Remark: ● Adv.: Low moisture loss; Better cooling efficiency than RC and
FAC.
● Disad.: High equipment input and operating cost; High energy
consumption; Low stability and automation of equipment.
● FDT: Balancing the conflicts among the heat transfer rate,
cooling transport capacity and pumping power; Proposing
precise and multi-objective optimization strategies by
combining the experimental measurement, analytical quanti
fication and numerical simulation; Improving operation sta
­
bility and automation; Reducing energy consumption (Wang
et al., 2019).
RC Low respiratory intensity, most carcass, e.g., Potatoes, Onions,
garlic, apples, oranges, beef and pork, etc.
Remark: ● Adv.: Low equipment input and maintenance cost.
● Disad.: Very low cooling rate; Poor cooling uniformity; High
sensitivity to packaging types and the stacking arrangement.
● FDT: Improving cooling rate and uniformity by optimizing
package design (vent area, shape, number, position, etc.),
product stacking, and refrigerating unit location and number;
Future applications should mainly focus on carcass precooling.
FAC Most agro-products
Remark: ● Adv.: Low equipment input and maintenance cost; Wide
applicability; Better cooling efficiency than RC; 2–6 times
higher cooling rate than RC.
● Disad.: Lower cooling rate and uniformity than HC, SIC and VC;
High sensitivity to packaging types and the stacking
arrangement.
● FDT: Improved cooling rate and uniformity without
compromising energy consumption and product quality
(including safety); Determining the optimum duration of
precooling by considering the temperature of the goods at
different pallet positions or the desired temperature range of
the food at the end of precooling; Determining the optimal air
velocity and relative humidity (Mercier et al., 2019).
PC VC Large surface area to volume ratio, high water content, e.g., grape,
leafy vegetables, watermelon, cabbage, cooked meat, etc.
Remark: ● Adv.: High cooling rate and uniformity; Inhibit or kill bacteria
and microorganisms; Nonsensitive to packaging types.
● Disad.: Low throughput; High equipment input and operating
cost; Power-intensive; High moisture loss.
● FDT: Reducing the mass loss of the products by in-depth
studying the migration characteristics of water during vacuum
cooling process at the cellular level including the migration
path, water distribution and state of water loss to further un
derstand the moisture transfer mechanism; Realizing multi-
functional optimization of VC process or system by combing
with other technique (e.g., modified atmosphere) (Zhu et al.,
2019).
CC Soft fruits with a seasonal production period, cut flower industry,
relatively expensive products.
Remark: ● Adv.: Low equipment input cost.
● Disad.: High operating and maintenance costs.
● FDT: No relevant studies have been found and further studies
need to be performed to demonstrate that this precooling
method can be successfully applied to precooling of fresh
produce (Brosnan & Sun, 2001).
Trends in Food Science & Technology 109 (2021) 536–551
Table 2
Refrigeration methods and their future development trends.
Name DM FDT
CAS VCRS ● Optimization of expansion valve performance (e.g., novel
expander mechanisms, heat transfer, leakage, expansion
process, irreversibility, lubrication, control, integration with
compressors, power utilization strategy and economic aspects);
Comparing the performance of various expander mechanisms
in the same cycle architecture and operating conditions
(Murthy et al., 2019).
● Developing high performance phase change materials and heat
exchangers (e.g., enhancing the thermal conductivity without
phase segregation and designing heat exchangers with high
heat transfer rates); achieving energy-efficient and -economic
cooling (She et al., 2018).
VARS ● Optimizing the cooling capacity by detailed component level
modelling and design; good application prospects for
refrigerated transportation (Venkataraman et al., 2020).
VJRS ● Optimizing the size of the single-phase supersonic vapor
ejector (Rashed et al., 2020).
● Determining the optimal nozzle shape and position; exploring
novel refrigerants with limited environmental impact and good
performance (Carvalho et al., 2019).
MAS CACS ● Reducing the risk of low O2 and high CO2 injuries during
­
longterm storage of fruit (Mditshwa et al., 2018).
● Economic analysis of these gains in relation to the investments
needed (Both et al., 2018).
MAP ● Detailed understanding molecular changes in fresh produce
and determining the optimal initial gas modification by the
application of genomic tools; (Belay et al., 2019).
● Integrated mathematical model (considering product
characteristics, packaging material properties and microbial
growth in produce) offers new opportunities for successful
implementation of optimal MAP design and performance
(Oliveira et al., 2015).
uses air as the cooling medium, and its effectiveness (i.e., cooling rate
and uniformity, energy consumption, produce water loss, rate of chilling
injury) depends directly on packaging and stacking patterns, the ther
­
mophysical properties of produce, air velocity, air temperature, and
humidity (Bideau et al., 2018). MAS is based mainly on CAS but also
adjusts the composition of the storage atmosphere (e.g., high carbon
dioxide and low oxygen) to inhibit the physiological and biochemical
processes of food deterioration or the microbial activity in the food
product. MAS thus extends the food shelf life compared with CAS.
Fig. 2 shows the different cold storage categories and the corre
­
sponding products that can be suitably stored at various temperatures.
Fresh or frozen products are most often stored in high-temperature
(HiT), medium-temperature (MeT), or low-temperature (LoT) facil
­
ities. Quick-freezing (QuF) and ultralow-temperature (UT) cold storage
may also be used, although the extremely low temperature may irre
­
versibly damage meat products (e.g., degrade taste and sensory char
­
acteristics, reduce water retention, decrease thawing efficiency). In
addition, maintaining an ultralow temperature requires significant
electric power, which increases stakeholder risk and lengthens the
profit-recovery cycle.
­
In recent years, an increasing effort has been devoted to balance the
electric-power demand of cold storage with the conservation of product
quality (Table 3). These studies can be grouped into three research
topics: The first group focuses primarily on the details of airflow
(including buoyancy-driven infiltration airflow) and the heat and mass
transfer in cold rooms (e.g., the effect of opening and closing the cold-
room doors). These studies mainly focus on optimizing the uniformity
and stability of the cold-room temperature and humidity by applying
energy-saving regulations, with the goal being to satisfy the re
­
quirements for a low-temperature, stable storage environment for the
given food product (Tian et al., 2018).
The second group of studies investigates how different storage at
­
mospheres and packaging materials affect the physicochemical quality
of the food product (e.g., color and texture, the concentration of
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J.-W. Han et al.
Fig. 2. Different types of RWs depending on the food-temperature requirements (Machinery Industry Standard, 2018). Apps: Applications.
bioactive compounds, or the molecular response of produce when
exposed to specific atmospheres), which provides a reliable theoretical
and experimental basis to better understand product quality and the
associated molecular processes. This approach allows a multi-objective
optimization of product quality and energy conservation in low-
temperature storage (Akerma et al., 2020; Mditshwa et al., 2018; Zud
­
aire et al., 2017).
Finally, the third group of studies focuses on the development and
optimization of refrigerating systems, refrigeration storage technology,
and refrigerants in an effort to reduce energy consumption. These
studies are motivated by the global environmental and energy crisis and
seek to promote energy conservation and the environmentally friendly
development of RWs (Azmi et al., 2017). However, this research is still
in the stage of theoretical exploration, and some challenging issues and
technologies still require further in-depth study, such as intelligent
monitoring and automated management, which exploits the
real-time-quality data of refrigerated products to determine the optimal
energy management strategy. In addition, novel refrigerants and ther
­
mal insulation materials with low global warming potential, high COP,
and micro- or nano-scale structures are being developed to reduce the
energy consumption of refrigeration equipment (Bouzembrak et al.,
2019; Zhao et al., 2018).
3.3. Refrigerated transport
Refrigerated transport (RT) connects the upstream and downstream
links in the cold chain. Multiple modes of RT are available, including
marine, air, road, and rail, and the optimal mode of RT depends on shelf
life, economic value, cost, and customer demand (Yavas & Ozkan-Ozen,
2020). RT systems operate for the most part in a harsh environment, and
the cooling performance is affected by many adverse factors, such as
relative humidity, relative wind or vehicle speed, variable climatic
conditions, solar radiation, heat infiltration, and degradation of insu
­
lation materials (Artuso et al., 2019). Therefore, RT systems usually
have a lower COP than stationary refrigeration systems because they are
mainly responsible for maintaining the temperature of precooled cargo
rather than reducing the cargo temperature (Tassou et al., 2009). Road
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Trends in Food Science & Technology 109 (2021) 536–551
transport via RVs is the most common mode of food transport, and as
such is the main focus of research around the world (Mercier et al.,
2017). However, relevant technological innovations in road transport
(e.g., improving the distribution of cooling capacity, optimizing the
internal structure of refrigerated containers, the use of novel re
­
frigerants) can be directly applied to other transportation modes. In the
following, we discuss three main lines of research that address specific
important issues in RT.
First, the main purpose of RT is to maintain a stable and uniform
temperature and humidity environment throughout the shipment
period, which is the single most important characteristic determining
the quality, safety, and shelf-life of food products and the associated
food losses. Within a RV, the homogeneity of temperature, humidity,
and air-flow velocity is determined by the external environment and the
internal air circulation (Artuso et al., 2019). Therefore, a detailed un
­
derstanding of the heat and mass transfer processes and the spatial and
temporal optimization of temperature and humidity within a refriger
­
ated space are currently major research directions and are generally
achieved by optimizing the internal structure of refrigerated boxes,
reducing the infiltration loads due to external ambient air infiltrating
into the refrigerated space through cracks and door openings (Rai et al.,
2019), and developing lightweight, high-performance insulation mate
­
rials (i.e., high thermal stability, resistance to wear and erosion if used
on the external wall of the RV) (Adekomaya et al., 2017).
Second, a vapor compression refrigeration system (VCRS) is used in
the refrigeration units of the vast majority of RVs, which, for 90% of the
market, are driven by auxiliary diesel engines that generate electricity to
run the compressor and fans (Pandya et al., 2020; Rai & Tassou, 2017).
With the growth of the world population and living standards, the scale
of refrigerated transport is also increasing to meet the consumer demand
for high-quality, diversified, and personalized food. A 2010 study pre
­
sented by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP, 2010)
estimated that about 4 million RVs were in service worldwide and
forecasted a growth of 2.5% per annum by 2030 for global road freight
transport. Eurostat reported 4 million RVs in Europe alone at the end of
2016 (Artuso et al., 2019). These statistics mean that we can expect an
increase in the energy demand for transporting perishable foods.
J.-W. Han et al. Trends in Food Science & Technology 109 (2021) 536–551

Table 3 Table 3 (continued )

Summary of recent typical studies that focus on optimizing the cooling perfor Reference Type Temperature Relative Product

­
mance of RWs. humidity
Reference Type Temperature Relative Product Remark: predicting the fate of the fungicide particles by
humidity developing a CFD model of a thermonebulization fungicide
Delele et al. HiT- 11.1 – Apple fogging system for fruit postharvest treatments, and good
(2012) MAS agreement was found between measured and predicted results of
Remark: predicting the fate of the fungicide particles by deposition profiles of fungicide particles. Moreover, investigating
developing a CFD model of a thermonebulization fungicide the effect of bin handling parameters (top cover and bottom air
fogging system for fruit postharvest treatments, and good circulation gaps) on the amount and uniformity of fungicide
agreement was found between measured and predicted results of deposition in the fruit bin.
deposition profiles of fungicide particles. Moreover, investigating
the effect of bin handling parameters (top cover and bottom air
circulation gaps) on the amount and uniformity of fungicide Therefore, numerous investigations have explored effective ways to
deposition in the fruit bin. improve the COP and cooling capacity of refrigeration systems and to
Yesudhason MeT- 0–2 ◦ C – seer fish reduce the energy consumption and environmental impact, which in
et al. (2014) MAP

Remark: evaluate the combined effect of modified atmosphere
packaging and sodium acetate on the retention of shelf life and
microbial quality of seer fish steaks stored at 0–2 ◦ C. The results
showed that the combined effect of MAP (70 vol% CO2:30 vol%
O2) and sodium acetate (1%, w/v) is a valuable tool to allow an
effective extension of the shelf life of raw fish products.
Kabeel et al., LoT- − 13 ◦ C – –
2016 CAS
Remark: a comprehensive experimental study on a walk-in cold
store (room) to compare the performance of R1234ze (a low
global warming potential alternative refrigerant) and R134a
refrigerants is carried out on. The results showed that R1234ze
has higher coefficient of performance (COP) about 7–33% than
that of R134a in all cases and lower power consumption of the
compressor about 9–15.5% through different experiments.
Zudaire et al. MeT- 1 ◦C 85% calçots (Allium
(2017) CACS cepa L.)
Remark: evaluate the effect of controlled atmospheres on the
physicochemical, nutritional and sensory quality of calçots at
­
cludes greenhouse gas emissions and refrigerant leakage (Adekomaya
et al., 2017; Rai & Tassou, 2017).
Fig. 3 shows the contribution of the various thermal loads to the
overall energy consumption of refrigerated systems. Minimizing the
energy consumption of refrigerated transport systems translates into
minimizing the various thermal loads that are transferred into the
refrigerated space (Francis et al., 2017). Other studies suggest that
reducing the weight and aerodynamic drag of refrigerated boxes is also a
cost-effective option for significantly decreasing fuel consumption and
CO2 emissions. These reports state that a 14% reduction in aerodynamic
drag or a 10% reduction in weight can both contribute a 7% reduction in
fuel consumption (Kulekci et al., 2008). However, the optimization of
aerodynamics and the use of lightweight materials for RVs cannot
compromise the payload, doorway area, mechanical requirements,
manufacturability, cost efficiency, and environmental safety of RT. In
addition to CO2 emissions from powering and transporting the refrig

­
different reduced O2 and elevated CO2 concentrations. eration units, refrigerant leakage remains an acute issue that needs to be
Bideau et al. MeT- − 2–4 ◦ C 90–98% Cauliflowers addressed to reduce the environmental impact of RT, which tends
(2018) CAS
Remark: present a modeling approach for simulating the cooling
exceed that of other refrigeration-industry sectors due to the harsh
of packed and stacked horticultural produce in a vented storage environment, continuous vibration, and mechanical shocks involved in
room and simultaneously determine the temperature and the RT.
mass loss of several products placed in conventional RC. Some studies present a more comprehensive assessment of the car
Tian et al. LoT/ − 33.68 ~ 90%

­
–
bon footprint of RT to assess the total global-warming impact (including
(2018) QuF- − 16.91 ◦ C
CAS the total direct and indirect CO2 emissions plus the equivalent CO2
Remark: developing an unsteady analytical model for predicting emissions of other greenhouse gases) of various refrigerants (e.g.,
the infiltration flow rate through the doorway of refrigerated R134a, R152a, R1234yf, R290, R404A, R410A, R32, and R744) (Wu
rooms, and the prediction errors of infiltration air volume are et al., 2013, 2020). These studies provide a detailed understanding and
distributed between ±10%.
Thewes et al. MeT- 1–5 ◦ C 94 ± 2% Apple
an important theoretical basis for determining the optimal refrigerant
(2019) CACS with low global warming potential, high COP, and low energy con

­
Remark: evaluated the effects of controlled atmosphere and sumption under various conditions (e.g., road surface, weather condi

­
dynamic controlled atmosphere based on respiratory quotient tions, and operating temperatures). In addition, Pandya et al. (2020)
(RQ), with RQ 1.3 and RQ 1.5, on the dynamics of pyruvic acid,
proposed a VARS coupled with a solid-oxide fuel cell (SOFC) for large,
sugars, anaerobic metabolites, and enzymes involved in
anaerobic metabolism of “Elstar” and “Nicoter” apples after medium, and small refrigerated trucks as a favorable alternative to
harvest, 6 and 9 months of storage plus 7 days of shelf life. The conventional diesel-engine-driven VCRSs. The results show that the
results show that ‘Elstar’ adapts to extremely low oxygen storage SOFC-coupled VARSs can refrigerate the cargo with negligible
while ‘Nicoter’ does not. greenhouse-gas emissions compared with other refrigerated trans
Akerma et al. MeT/ − 18 ◦ C/-5 ◦ C Quartzite (frozen
­
portation technologies and zero emissions of particulate matter and
–
(2020) LoT- carrot analog)
CAS NOx. Therefore, environmentally benign refrigerants and alternative
Remark: study experimentally the effects of several demand refrigeration systems have the potential not only to reduce or even
response (DR) parameters (including compressor turning off eliminate the problem of refrigerant leakage but also to significantly
while maintaining the fans, product load, outside temperature,
decrease the energy consumption of future RT systems (Rai & Tassou,
setpoint temperature and DR duration) on the air, product
temperature and energy consumption in a cold room. The results 2017; Tassou et al., 2009).
showed that compressor energy consumption can be reduced due Finally, the digitization and visualization of RT has become another
to DR applications in some scenarios. important line of research in recent years and provides a quantitative
Coelho et al. HiT- 20 ◦ C 40/70% Common bean approach to weighing the different stakeholder objectives (e.g., envi
(2020) CACS
­
ronmental assessment, customer satisfaction, low risk, low cost), which
Remark: analyze the physicochemical parameters and
composition variability of common bean under different storage helps decision making strategic scheduling (Yavas & Ozkan-Ozen,
atmosphere of O2, CO2, and humidity. 2020). Optimizing vehicle routing is another typical research subject
Praeger et al. MeT- 1–4 ◦ C – Apple that simultaneously reduces energy consumption, food degradation,
(2020) MAS
transport time, and carbon emissions (Zhang et al., 2020). Furthermore,
the real-time acquisition, storage, and processing of multi-source data

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J.-W. Han et al. Trends in Food Science & Technology 109 (2021) 536–551

Fig. 3. Typical contribution of each type of load to the total thermal load of RVs (a) from Francis et al. (2017) and (b) from Rai and Tassou (2017). Other loads not
presented include the heat gain from ventilator motors, defrost heaters, antisweat heaters, lights, people, and forklifts.

(e.g., temperature, humidity, route, deadweight, and door opening and their classification according to ISO 23953-2:2015. To simultaneously
closing) is the foundation for digitization of RT and improves the flex meet the needs of different stakeholders (e.g., customers, staff, retailers)

­
ibility, reliability, and dynamism of RT, thereby facilitating real-time
decision-making for governments, businesses, and consumers (Yavas &
Ozkan-Ozen, 2020). In addition, real-time monitoring of RVs can also
help managers to detect and immediately resolve abnormal conditions
and thereby prevent problems such as irregular temperature and hu
­
midity, which is important for optimizing logistics, closely controlling
food quality and safety, improving traceability, ensuring the credibility
and transparency of quality controls, and many other factors (Liu et al.,
2020). In the future, the application of technological innovations such as
and attain multi-objective collaborative optimization (i.e., high-quality
products, thermal comfort, and energy conservation), RDCs have
attracted the attention of researchers interested in the marketing stage
of CCL (Lindberg et al., 2020).
Various studies have shown that the infiltration of warm and humid
air across air curtains represents the largest thermal load of typical open-
display cabinets (almost 67%–77% of the total thermal load), which
translates into the greatest negative effect on the efficiency of open-
display cabinets in terms of both temperature homogeneity and en

the IoT (for data acquisition), cloud computing (for data processing and
mining), and artificial intelligence (AI; for data interpretation) will be
the main driving forces behind the upgrade and transformation from
traditional RT systems to intelligent and sustainable RT systems.
3.4. Marketing
Marketing is the final, crucial stage in the food cold chain before the
food products reach the consumer. Field surveys in various countries
show that chilled foods face serious temperature and humidity abuse in
retail stores (Derens et al., 2006; Derens-Bertheau et al., 2015). In China,
almost 80% of fresh fruits and vegetables in supermarkets experience
­
ergy (Tassou et al., 2011; Xie et al., 2021). As a result, the use of closed
RDCs is becoming increasingly widespread due to their greater energy
efficiency and more stable air and product temperatures. For example,
closed RDCs will account for 75% of all display cabinets in retail stores
by the end of 2020 in France (Chaomuang et al., 2017). However, closed
displays introduce physical barriers to accessing the product, possibly
reducing sales, which is a major drawback and discourages retailers
from retrofitting open refrigerated displays with doors. In addition,
frequent opening of the glass doors of closed displays increases fogging
on the doors, which decreases their transparency, thereby degrading the
visual representation of the products. These drawbacks mean that active
heat defogging, temperature readjustment, and temperature stabiliza

­
tion are required for closed displays, which increases the energy re
temperature abuse. Related research reports that inappropriate tem

­
quirements and cooling load of this stage (Chaomuang et al., 2017). In
­
perature and humidity management is responsible for more than half of
addition, according to ISO 23953, the lights required in a closed display
all unmarketable produce (Chaomuang et al., 2017; Xie et al., 2021).
are responsible for 25% of the total heat extracted by evaporator coils
Furthermore, the accumulation and transmission of various risk factors
(assuming ten openings per hour of each door, each with a duration of
(e.g., temperature and humidity abuse, quality deterioration,
15 s). Thus, no consensus has been reached on the pros and cons of open
cross-contamination) in the early stages of the cold chain also negatively
versus closed refrigeration cabinets, and future multidisciplinary studies
impact the food quality and safety in the marketing process. Therefore,
(combining quantitative and qualitative methods with empirical data)
marketing is the most vulnerable and the closest link in the cold supply
are required the comprehensively consider multiple optimization ob
chain to consumers; a lack of strict quality and safety supervision in this
­
jectives (e.g., energy consumption, food quality, temperature distribu
last line of defense can make the whole CCL fall short. ­
tion, thermal comfort, sales volume, environmental impact), which
In addition, reducing the operation cost of refrigeration (i.e., elec
would help to fully understand the behavioral and technical aspects of
­
tricity input) has proven to be a challenging technical problem for re
real, dynamical, and complex shopping situations (Lindberg et al.,
­
tailers that directly affects their economic returns (Lindberg et al.,
2020). Table 4 summarizes recent studies on the performance of
2020). Related research reports that about 4% of the annual consump
different types of RDCs. As can be seen from Table 4, the use of a PCM is
­
tion of electricity in industrialized countries is used for the daily oper
a potential solution to reduce the negative impact of defrosting on the
­
ation of supermarkets, about 35%–45% of the total electricity
shelf life of food products, temperature stability, and energy efficiency
consumption of a typical supermarket is used for refrigeration, and
in RDCs. In addition, few studies have investigated how to improve both
around 70% of this refrigeration energy is used to store and display
the energy efficiency and food quality for horizontal, frozen-food
frozen and chilled food products at suitable temperatures (Alzuwaid
cabinets.
et al., 2016). Therefore, the long-term efforts of research aim to balance
a stable, uniform storage environment for maintaining and displaying
high-quality products with the need to minimize energy consumption 3.5. Domestic refrigerator
(Chaomuang et al., 2017; Lindberg et al., 2020).
Refrigerated display cabinets (RDCs) represent a major storage car The food business operator (FBO) has the primary responsibility for
­
rier that is used extensively in retail stores worldwide to store, display, food safety before the consumer purchases a food product, and food
and sell chilled food products. RDCs come in various designs, including safety risks can be significantly reduced by standardization, specializa
­
horizontal, vertical, open, closed, chilled, frozen, and multi-temperature tion, and precise management (e.g., process hygiene, the use of food
cabinets, and detailed information on display cabinets is available from safety criteria, self-checking systems, and hazard analysis and critical

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J.-W. Han et al. Trends in Food Science & Technology 109 (2021) 536–551

Table 4 is the most common household appliance for this purpose and plays a
Recent studies and future research directions for improving the performance of crucial role in keeping food fresh and maintaining its quality and safety
RDCs. by providing a suitable low-temperature environment.
Reference Type C/F H/ OP Country Ovca et al. (2020) report that 50% of domestic refrigerators maintain
V a 24 h average internal temperature of over 6 ◦ C, and only 20% of do

­
Xie et al. (2021) ORDC, C (1–4 ◦ C) V TD, USA mestic refrigerators maintain temperatures below 4 ◦ C. These results are
CRDC FQ similar to those of Derens-Bertheau et al. (2015) and Jofré et al. (2019),
Remark: This study provides an insight into the benefits of who showed that about 47% and 41% of domestic refrigerators maintain
CRDC for better temperature management and quality
product temperatures above 6 ◦ C. In addition, Laguerre et al. (2002)
retention of fresh-cut leafy greens in the retail environment
and concurrently in a home refrigerator, and the results report that 26% of the refrigerators surveyed (data available for 119 of
show that CRDC has a lower overall temperature, better 143 families) in France operate at over 8 ◦ C, and 80.2% of the general
temperature uniformity, and less produce quality loss than public confirmed that they had never measured their refrigerator’s
ORDC. temperature (Jevšnik et al., 2013). These studies also show that refrig
Talbot et al. (2020) ORDC, F (− 20 ~ V TD, UK

­
CRDC − 1 ◦ C) FQ
erator age, load, door openings, or time of day have no significant
Remark: This study made up for the lack of data on the impact on refrigerator temperature, although these factors may increase
temperature performance of frozen retail display cabinets, the energy consumption of the refrigerator. Fluctuations in refrigerator
and future research should determine the effect of defrost- temperature mainly depend on thermostat setting, refrigerator design,
induced temperature fluctuations on frozen food quality
and the on-off cycling of the compressor, and temperature fluctuations
and how to reduce this negative effect.
Nikitin (2020) ORDC C (0–10 ◦ C) V TD Russia may range from 0.5 up to 12.2 ◦ C over 24 h (Jofré et al., 2019; Ovca
Remark: The analysis of simulation results showed ORDC et al., 2020). In particular, the warmer seasons lead to a greater fluc

with a double-jet air curtain have a larger (by 13%) effective
volume compared to a single-jet air curtain and do not lead
to a significant increase of production cost (less than 5%).
Further research should be carried out to determine the
­
tuation in temperature due to the greater difference between ambient
and refrigerator temperatures. These temperature fluctuations strongly
impact the safety and the shelf-life of food products, and greater tem

­
unsteady influence of external factors on the process of perature fluctuations lead to greater reductions in shelf life because the
convective heat transfer in the ORDC. growth rate of L. monocytogenes increases exponentially with tempera

­
Chaomuang et al. CRDC C (0 ◦ C) V TD France ture (Hereu et al., 2014).
(2020) Remark: These studies provide a detailed insight into
Reports show that, in Europe, 45% of food losses and 87% of food
airflow and heat transfer processes in CRDC by combining

experiment and CFD modeling, and results show that CRDC
has lower product temperatures, better temperature
uniformity, and better product preservation. In future
studies, CFD will be used as an effective analysis tool to
investigate the influence of unexplored design parameters
and the operating conditions on the steady (or unsteady)
distribution of air and product temperature.
Ben-Abdallah et al. ORDC C (0–6 ◦ C) V EC, France
(2019) TD
Remark: The results show an important potential of PCM to
maintain the air and product temperature inside display
­
borne disease occurred at the household level, respectively (Food
Standards Agency, 2018; Gustavsson et al., 2011). The rate of food loss
and foodborne disease occurring in households strongly depends on
consumer behavior and the domestic environment, so efforts should be
made to reduce both risk factors. In terms of consumer behavior, regular
temperature verifications, cleaning, and disinfection are essential to
reduce temperature fluctuations and microbial contamination levels (e.
g., bacteria and fungi) in refrigerators (Ye et al., 2019). Moreover, it is
also very important to increase consumer knowledge of good refriger

cabinets when the compressor is off, and future research
should focus on reducing the energy consumption of this
technology by optimizing display cabinet design and fan
power.
Wu et al. (2017) ORDC C (5 ◦ C) V TD China
Remark: A novel composite shelf is designed for the ORDC
based on the advantages of the heat pipes and PCM, which
can effectively reduce the temperature fluctuation in
defrosting processes and improve the performance of
ORDC. Future research needs to choose more appropriate
heat pipe working fluids and phase-change materials
(PCMs).
­
ation practices and of the impact of temperature on microorganisms,
especially for the elderly and pregnant women. To improve the domestic
environment, good housekeeping practices (e.g., strictly abiding by the
shelf-life and by the recommended storage temperature of refrigerated
foods), clean and hygienic conditions for food handling, preparation,
and cooking are very helpful for reducing cross-contamination from
other foods and household foodborne disease outbreaks.
Refrigerators are the most economical and effective way to store
fresh perishable food at the household level. As the world’s refrigerator
population grows and lifestyles improve, over 1.4 billion domestic re

Alzuwaid et al. ORDC C (0–4 ◦ C) V TD UK
(2016) Remark: A 2D CFD model was developed to can predict the
effect of adding a PCM container on cabinet efficiencies, air
temperature distributions, product temperatures, and
airflow patterns inside the cabinet, and simulation results
show that the modified display cabinet with integrated PCM
has greater stabilization of product temperatures during
defrost periods and significant energy savings.
control) (Roccato et al., 2017). However, once fresh food is purchased
from the FBO, food quality and safety are directly related to how con
­
sumers transport, store, and handle the food in their domestic envi
­
ronment, especially for meat and seafood. Although the time for
transport from the FBO to home is relatively short because consumers
tend to purchase food near their home, perishable food products may
still spend a considerable portion of their shelf life in household stor
­
age—this stage of storage may be even longer than the total circulation
time in the previous cold chain section. Therefore, domestic storage is a
critical part of CCL, and its proper implementation is vital to reducing
food waste and the risk of foodborne diseases. The domestic refrigerator
­
frigerators are used worldwide (Ovca et al., 2020), and the total in
­
ventory of domestic refrigerators and freezers worldwide exceeds 2.3
billion (Maiorino et al., 2020). James et al. (2017) demonstrated that
refrigeration systems are consistently the single biggest draw of elec
­
tricity in the residential sector, accounting for about 13.4%–38% of the
total residential electricity consumption in different countries (Rav
­
eendran et al., 2020; Thiessen et al., 2018). Therefore, improving the
energy efficiency of home refrigerators has become an important topic
worldwide.
In general, three technological improvements can help improve the
energy efficiency of domestic refrigeration systems. The first method is
to reduce the thermal load by increasing the insulation thickness or
using advanced insulation panels (e.g., VIPs, PLA plastic liners, and
baffle-type panels filled with low conductivity composites) (Bansal
et al., 2011; Hossieny et al., 2019; Thiessen et al., 2018); this approach
mainly reduces heat transfer by conduction through the refrigerator wall
due to this part of the load accounted for approximately 60% of the total
thermal load (Thiessen et al., 2018). Increasing insulation thickness can
help reduce the total heat gains and thereby reduce the energy required
by the compressor. However, this approach would reduce the effective

544
J.-W. Han et al.
internal volume of the refrigerator and against the manufacturer’s
target. An effective alternative to standard insulation is advanced in
­
sulators, such as vacuum insulation panels (VIPs), whose thermal con
­
ductivity is about five times less than that of the most commonly used
polyurethane foam. Hossieny et al. (2019) and Thiessen et al. (2018)
report that refrigerator energy consumption is reduced 7.3%–12.5% and
6%–21% by using polylactic acid (PLA) and VIPs, respectively. How
­
ever, cost and processing difficulties (e.g., difficulty to apply in corners
or along edges) limit the wide-scale use of advanced insulators in do
­
mestic refrigerators, so a breakthrough is required that does not
compromise on product lifetime and environmental friendliness.
The second method to improve the energy efficiency of domestic
refrigeration is to reduce the mechanical friction in the compressor or to
use advanced compressors (e.g., VSLC, VCC), which is also the solution
with the greatest energy savings because the compressor is the main
energy-consuming component of a refrigerator, accounting for over 80%
of the total energy consumed (Marques et al., 2014). Yang et al. (2020)
developed a nano-refrigerant consisting of graphene nanosheets added
to SUNISO 3 GS refrigerant oil, and the results show that energy con
­
sumption over 24 h by a domestic refrigerator can be reduced by up to
20.3%. In addition, graphene nanosheets have a relatively high thermal
conductivity and thus increase the thermal conductivity of the refrig
­
erant, which enhances the capacity of the heat exchanger (i.e.,
condenser and evaporator). Furthermore, low-GWP nano-refrigerants
have been proposed in which nanoparticles (e.g., TiO2-MO, CuO, carbon
nanotubes) are added to low-GWP refrigerants (e.g., R-290, R600a,
R407c) (Jaffri et al., 2018; Jatinder et al., 2019; Rahman et al., 2019).
The results of these studies show that low-GWP nano-refrigerants not
only effectively reduce the energy consumption of refrigerator systems
but also promote environmental sustainability. However, complex
manufacturing processes, high economic costs, and the required
re-engineering of the heat exchangers and compressor (e.g., HC re
­
frigerants, HFO-1234yf) are major barriers that prevent the widespread
use of these novel nano-refrigerants in the near future (Bansal et al.,
2011). However, studies have shown that advanced compressors offer
higher performance and energy savings, but their performance must be
reliable (Omara et al., 2020).
The third method to improve the energy efficiency of domestic
refrigeration is to enhance the heat transfer of the heat exchangers. As
previously mentioned, the efficiency of heat exchangers can be achieved
by using nano-refrigerants. Additionally, PCMs may also be used to
reduce the refrigerator energy consumption by integrating it into the
evaporator for cold storage, into the condenser for heat storage, or into
the compartment side (Du et al., 2018). This method is more economical
and easier to implement than the first two methods (i.e., improving
panel insulation and compressor performance). Omara and Mohamme
­
dali (2020) reported that integrating PCMs into a refrigerator reduces
the pressure ratio across the compressor, which increases the
compressor off-time, reduces compressor starts, and thus reduces energy
consumption. However, no specific guidelines exist for incorporating
PCMs into domestic refrigeration systems (e.g., phase change tempera
­
ture, thickness, geometry, configuration, position, and orientation), and
few exergy and entransy analyses have been undertaken to detect the
source and position of thermodynamic blemishes and to optimize the
thermal performance of this application. Further research and optimi
­
zation is thus needed to find the optimal PCMs for domestic refrigerators
based on physical (a completely reversible freeze-melt cycle, high
enthalpy change, high specific heat capacity, high thermal conductivity,
less supercooling and phase segregation), chemical (low vapor pressure,
compatibility with other materials, good chemical stability, nontoxicity)
and economic requirements (low cost, recyclable, abundant resource
base) (Omara & Abuelnour, 2019).
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Trends in Food Science & Technology 109 (2021) 536–551
4. The status of cold chain logistics in China
4.1. Infrastructure
With the growing purchasing power of the Chinese in recent years,
the cold-chain infrastructure and market scale have also rapidly grown.
According to the 2020 development report of the China Cold Chain
Logistics Alliance, the total RW capacity in China is about 49.26 million
tons (equivalent to 122.26 million cubic meters) with a compound
annual growth rate of 15.77% from 2008 to 2020 (see Fig. 4a). As can be
seen from Fig. 4b–d, the uneven distribution of RWs and RVs among the
different regions in China constitutes a serious problem that limits the
promotion, standardization, and digitization of CCL in China. East
China, North China, Central China, and South China are the four main
regions requiring distribution via RWs and RVs, which is mainly
attributed to the rapid economic development of these areas combined
with the development of transportation and personalized eating habits.
A 2018 report by the Global Cold Chain Alliance (Global Cold Chain
Alliance, 2018) attributes to China 0.132 cubic meters of RW capacity
per urban resident, which is far below the level of developed countries
(e.g., two- to fourfold lower than the USA, Japan, and Canada). In
addition, the China Federation of Logistics & Purchasing (CFLP) reports
that the number of RVs per capita in China is 0.13 per 1000 persons in
2018, which is far lower than Japan (1.95) and the USA (1.76). There
­
fore, the potential domestic demand on the cold chain infrastructure is
huge in China, which forbears broad development prospects. Mean
­
while, the steady growth of China’s economy, the acceleration of ur
­
banization, the increasing awareness of food safety among consumers,
and the expansion of international cooperation will all promote the
sustainable development of China’s CCL industry and the expansion of
demand.
4.2. Digital development level
The main purpose of digitization of CCL is to implement dynamic
monitoring (e.g., dynamic path optimization, dynamic temperature and
humidity control, information sharing, fault warning) and accurate
traceability to ensure the quality control and safety of agricultural
products. Possible technologies for this transition include RFID, sensors
(e.g., temperature, humidity, weight, gas, opening and closing doors,
etc.), IoT, GPS, graphical information systems, and AI, which are vital
for connecting the information islands between upstream and down
­
stream stakeholders, reducing manpower cost, and promoting energy
conservation and intelligent implementation of CCL for agricultural
products. In various regions of China, the construction of cold-chain
infrastructure is characterized by diversity, non-uniformity, and hys
­
teresis, which limits cold chain standardization and the application of
related information technology (Zhao et al., 2018). In addition, low
profit margins and high costs make the enterprises involved unwilling to
invest in information transformation of the cold chain infrastructure,
which may further reduce corporate profits or even lead to bankruptcy.
Moreover, a poor perception of multi-source online information (envi
­
ronment, location, and packaging), poor stability, high error rate, and,
in particular, the lack of dynamic perception of product quality also
contribute to the slow development of CCL digitization in China. In the
future, a major driving force will be the universal application of
advanced information technology to further improve quality mainte
­
nance, increase the efficiency of upstream and downstream collabora
­
tive supervision, enhance the CCL market competitiveness, and increase
the construction and application of dynamic prediction models of agri
­
cultural product quality. Fig. 5 presents a procedure for building a dy
­
namic nondestructive model to predict the quality of fresh produce
based on ambient temperature and humidity and which remains suitable
even if the cold chain is broken and temperature and humidity fluctuate
in the supply chain.
J.-W. Han et al. Trends in Food Science & Technology 109 (2021) 536–551

Fig. 4. Cold chain infrastructure construction and distribution in China: (a) the infrastructure capacity by year, (b) the fraction of regional infrastructure in the
national total, (c) distribution of RW thermal capacity in China, (d) distribution of RVs in China.

Fig. 5. Procedure for dynamic nondestructive model to predict quality of fresh produce.

4.3. National policies and legislation
In recent years, with the continuous upgrading of China’s household
consumption structure, consumer demand for high-quality agricultural
products is increasing, which fuels the continuous expansion of CCL
demand and market scale. According to the CFLP report, China’s CCL
industry represented about 339 billion CNY at the end of 2019 and is
predicted to grow to 470 billion and 550 billion CNY by 2020 and 2025,
respectively. Of course, the rapid development of China’s cold chain
industry is strongly influenced by the support and guidance of the
relevant national policies and legislation (NPAL) imposed by the Chi
­
nese government. Given the late start and weak foundation of China’s
cold chain, some problems still remain, such as an imperfect system of
standards, a relatively outdated infrastructure, a low level of speciali
­
zation, and insufficient effective supervision. In recent years, to promote
the healthy development of China’s cold chain industry within an
appropriate standards framework, accelerate the development of the
CCL system, and ensure food safety and the associated jobs, the Chinese

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J.-W. Han et al. Trends in Food Science & Technology 109 (2021) 536–551

government recently issued policies and legal documents that introduce Table 6
important supervision and guidelines for increasing farmer income, Comparison of IC, DDL, and NPAL for China’s CCL with that of developed
reducing circulation loss of agricultural products, and improving the countries.
level of service in CCL. Table 5 lists some of the contents of Central Item China Developed countries
Document No.1 issued by the Chinese Communist Party Central Com IC ● Weak precooling facilities in the ● Adequate precooling facilities

­
mittee and the State Council from 2017 to 2020. producing area;
● 1%–30% of agricultural products
are precooled;
4.4. China compared with developed countries ● Low RW capacity and RV number
per urban resident;
Table 6 compares differences in CCL between China and developed ● Mainly by road and rail transport;
countries (including the USA, Canada, the EU, and Japan) in terms of
infrastructure construction (IC), digital development level (DDL), and ● Low cold chain circulation and
NPAL. In short, compared with developed countries, the main problems transport rate;
in China’s cold chain industry and the main means of improvement are
● High cold chain loss rate (~15%–
to accelerate the development of infrastructure, reduce the intermediate
30%) and low profit margin
circulation links, strengthen comprehensive personnel training, and (~8%);
improve the system of national policies and standards. The substandard DDL ● Low DDL;
precooling facilities in China are the main reason for the significant loss ● Low level of specialization;
of agricultural products and the increased risk of food loss in the sub ● Lack of interdisciplinary talent;
● More intermediate links;
in the producing area;
● 80%–100% of agricultural
products are pre-cooled;
● High RW capacity and RV
number per urban resident;
● Developed air, sea, and land
transport network and even
multimodal transport;
● High cold chain circulation
and transport rate (more than
90%);
● Low cold chain loss rate (less
than 5%) and high profit
margin (~20%–30%);
● Widely used for related
information technology;
● Fine division of labor;
● High level of specialization;

­
sequent links of the cold chain. Given the characteristics of seasonal
● Overall planning and ● Improvement of the education
harvesting of fruits and vegetables, the wide application of mobile pre- coordination of upstream and system;
cooling facilities should not only ensure the timely precooling of post- downstream are insufficient; ● Production, supply, and
harvest fruits and vegetables in the field but also increase the use of ● High risk of cold chain breaking; marketing integration;
● Less intermediate links;
pre-cooling facilities due to an increase in their mobility. Furthermore,
● Low risk of cold chain
the asymmetry between the huge consumer demand and the extent of breaking
the infrastructure is a major reason for the low rates of circulation and NPALs ● Inconsistent standards and low ● Sound NPALs and standards;
transportation of agricultural products in China’s cold chain, which also full chain coverage;
prevents adding value to postharvest products and increases the cost of ● Lack of upstream and downstream ● Strong government oversight;
management and sales link
the cold chain. Therefore, accelerating the development of the cold
standards;
chain infrastructure should contribute significantly to meeting the ● Overlapping national, local, and ● Strict professional
industry standards and low certification and market
Table 5 enforcement operability; access system;
● Inadequate NPALs and regulatory ● High government investment;
Relevant policies regarding CCL from Central Document No. 1 (2017–2020).
oversight;
Year Name and related content

2017 Suggestions on deepening supply-side structural reform in Agriculture and

accelerating the fostering of new Drivers of Agricultural and rural
domestic demand in China’s cold chain market for high-quality,
development: affordable products and reducing the loss of postharvest agricultural
● improving the national backbone network for agricultural product products. In addition, substandard cold chain infrastructure and insuf

­
distribution; ficient standardization are two of the major factors that limit the
● accelerating the establishment of a market system for public welfare
development of a digitalized cold chain in China, and the resulting high
agricultural products;
● strengthening the construction of cold-chain logistics infrastructure net cost and low profit limit the capacity of enterprises to invest in digiti

­
zation, both in terms of software and hardware. Thus, government
­
works such as pre-cooling in the producing areas of agricultural products;
● improving the direct supply and direct sale system for fresh agricultural regulations and financial policies regarding energy conservation, social
products. welfare, subsidies, and revenue enhancement should be effective mea
2018 Suggestions on implementing the Rural Revitalization Strategy:

­
● focus on solving outstanding problems in the sale of agricultural products;
sures to break the deadlock and accelerate the digitization of China’s
● strengthening post-harvest classification, packaging, and marketing of cold chain industry. The joint investment and management by enter

­
agricultural products; prises and the government will be the main trend to strengthen the
● developing a modern cold-chain storage and logistics system for agri construction of China’s CCL infrastructure. Scientific CCL standards for
­
cultural products;
food also need to be imposed by national laws, and effective methods of
● building a public service platform for the sale of agricultural products,
and support supply and marketing, postal services, and various supervision need to be established to promote the standardized devel
­
enterprises in extending their service outlets to rural areas. opment of China’s CCL. Furthermore, the government should strongly
2019 Suggestions on giving priority to developing Agriculture and Rural areas and support third-party CCL enterprises to encourage them to build the CCL
doing a good job in work related to agriculture, rural areas, and farmers infrastructure at both the origin and the point of sale of fresh agricultural
● vigorously develop the processing industry for modern agricultural
products;
products, which will help establish the low-temperature transport of
● coordinating the development of wholesale markets for producing, fresh products from the place of origin, reduce the risk of food loss, and
distributing and selling agricultural products; provide better CCL services for farmers and small retailers. In addition,
● strengthening the backbone network of agricultural products logistics and the construction of a modern logistics park is also vital for promoting the
the cold-chain logistics system.
integration, intensification, and efficient development of China’s CCL,
2020 Suggestions on grasping the key work in the field of “agriculture, rural areas,
and farmers” to ensure the realization of a well-off society in an all-round which is essential to better serve the consumers and retailers and meet
way as scheduled the diversified market demands.
● starting the construction of CCL facilities for storage and preservation of
agricultural products;
● strengthening overall planning, hierarchical distribution, and the
formulation of standards for CCL of agricultural products;
● arranging investment from the central budget to support the construction
of a number of backbone cold-chain logistics bases.

547
J.-W. Han et al.
5. Future trends
5.1. Reducing the carbon footprint
The characteristics of a low-carbon CCL mainly involve low energy
consumption, low carbon emissions, low pollution, and environmental
friendliness (Zhang, Tseng, et al., 2019). CCL represents an
energy-intensive industry that consumes a significant amount of energy
and produces copious carbon emissions from quick product freezing,
low-temperature preservation, low-temperature processing, sales, and
thermally stable transport. Meanwhile, continuous cold chain moni
­
toring, food loss, and traffic congestion due to the CCL industry
contribute substantially to energy consumption and environmental
pollution. In addition, as can be seen from the research interest in each
link of the cold chain and the current status thereof (see Section 2),
environmentally friendly and energy-saving innovations concern all
links in the cold chain. Therefore, a low-carbon CCL industry has
attracted significant attention from government, enterprises, pro
­
fessionals, and residents, and reducing energy consumption and carbon
emissions has become a ubiquitous trend in the CCL industry (Zhang,
Tseng, et al., 2019).
These are the two main lines of research for reducing the carbon
footprint of CCL, a line of research focus on improving the technology (e.
g., refrigeration systems, refrigerants, energy-efficient sensing tech
­
niques) (Mansuriya et al., 2020), and another line of research focuses on
improving operations and management practices (e.g., inventory man
­
agement, distribution-path optimization, multiple physical field opti
­
mization) (Han, Zhao, et al., 2018; Zhang, Tseng, et al., 2019). However,
government subsidies, carbon-emissions trading, and environmental
policies also strongly influence the transformation of the CCL industry
toward lower energy requirements and reduced emissions. Unfortu
­
nately, few studies have considered the impact on the CCL industry of
government policies, and, in particular, of government subsidies and
carbon emission trading policies (Zhang, Chen, et al., 2019). In addition,
the balance between short-term profitability (e.g., corporate profits and
social welfare) and long-term environmental sustainability (carbon
emission reductions) should also be considered as an important factor
for promoting the development of a low-carbon CCL (Zhang et al.,
2019a, 2019b).
5.2. Intelligent and efficient development of CCL
With the rapid development and application of a new generation of
information technology (e.g., the IoT, cloud computing, big data,
blockchain, AI), traditional CCL is gradually transforming and upgrad
­
ing to digitization, visualization, and intelligent systems, with the short-
term goal being a safer, more efficient, and sustainable food supply
chain. The IoT has the potential of serving as a sensing technology for
monitoring and collecting multi-source data in the food supply chain by
using different types of sensors (e.g., temperature, humidity, gas, light,
motion, and location) and relevant communication technologies (e.g.,
Bluetooth, RFID, 4G, WSN, WiFi, and Ethernet) and is a key enabler for
the digital transformation of the CCL industry. Meanwhile, the value of
the data collected (including hidden value) can be fully mined and
exploited by combining the IoT with cloud computing or fog computing,
which provides a major data platform for supply-chain actors such as
consumers, businesses, and governments to monitor, control, trace,
plan, and optimize business processes in real-time (Verdouw et al.,
2016).
Unfortunately, the IoT architecture proposed by most studies is
mainly a theoretical structure that has yet to be applied to food supply
chains, even in developed European countries (Bouzembrak et al.,
2019). To accelerate the implementation of the IoT in CCL, challenging
topics must be dealt with and solved, such as lack of standard commu
­
nication protocols, the high cost of investment in IoT devices, and
inadequate security features in hardware (Bouzembrak et al., 2019).
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Trends in Food Science & Technology 109 (2021) 536–551
Furthermore, blockchain technology provides transactional, distributed
ledger, and decentralized functionalities and enables end-to-end trace
­
ability in the complex food-supply chain, which allows consumers to
trace the digital product information (e.g., farm origination, batch
numbers, factory and processing data, expiry dates, storage tempera
­
tures, and shipping details) from farming to sales without the need to
rely on a trusted authority to verify all transactions (Feng et al., 2020;
Galvez et al., 2018). The use of this technology in food traceability
improves traceability transparency, security, durability, and integrity
and ensures data privacy and tamper-proof foodstuffs for farmers, pro
­
ducers, cold chain managers, governments, and consumers (Feng et al.,
2020). However, the application of blockchain technology in food
traceability is still at an incipient stage of development, and little has
been applied yet to the supply chain due to a lack of clear legal regu
­
lations and standards for its implementation (Galvez et al., 2018).
AI is an industry 4.0 technology with the potential to revolutionize
numerous industries and fields, including food supply chain manage
­
ment (Toorajipour et al., 2021). AI can improve the accuracy, speed, and
throughput of logistics operations and even completely replace signifi
­
cant numbers of low-skilled jobs in emerging market economies. How
­
ever, governments should aim to balance the use of AI with its impact on
industry, society, and people (especially low-skill workers) through a
comprehensive assessment. A more realistic development goal is to
improve the efficiency and efficacy of CCL management through
human-AI collaborative efforts rather than an industry-wide replace
­
ment of human workers. In addition, natural language processing is one
of the most promising AI techniques for enhancing and simplifying
human-AI interactions and has the potential to revolutionize CCL
management (Toorajipour et al., 2021).
5.3. Interdisciplinary integration and innovation
Literature statistics are useful to understand how academic research
relates to CCL and to evaluate future research directions; it involves
searching the relevant literature over a specific period from, e.g., the
Web of Science. Performing such a search using the keywords “cold
chain” OR “cold supply chain” in the title, abstract, keywords, and
keywords plus produces 514 articles published between 2002 and 2020.
Fig. 6 shows a co-occurrence network visualization of the keywords from
these articles, where each circle represents a keyword. The larger the
circle, the greater the number of publications containing the given
search term in their keywords. In addition, the distance between circles
is proportional to the number of co-occurrences of two search terms.
Different colors indicate different subject clusters. As seen in Fig. 6, the
research on CCL involves numerous academic disciplines (e.g., food,
computer, materials, ecology, energy and fuels, microbiology, medi
­
cine), which is attributed to the various applications, innovations, and
developments involved in CCL. Given that CCL is a comprehensive and
interdisciplinary applied subject, the cultivation of polyvalent talents
will be a key driving force for the future development and innovation of
any aspect of CCL and is also one of the main bottlenecks restricting the
intelligent transformation of CCL. Therefore, compensating for the lack
of polyvalent talent and promoting the comprehensive and steady
development of CCL would require changes in the education curriculum
and pedagogical approach. Any potential solution must be based on a
collaborative effort involving national regulatory agencies, universities,
industries, consumers, and interdisciplinary experts.
6. Conclusion
This paper systematically reviews the current research status,
shortcomings, and future trends of the CCL of fresh agricultural prod
­
ucts. Improving the efficiency, integrity, and sustainability of CCL sys
­
tems is categorized into three main directions of research that have
important implications for improving the economic efficiency of CCL,
ensuring food safety, and reducing negative environmental pressures
J.-W. Han et al.
Fig. 6. Network visualization of keywords of 514 CCL papers published between 2002 and 2020.
throughout the cold chain. However, CCL is an organic combination of
multiple circulation links, so collaborative innovation throughout all
links of the CCL is required to achieve these three goals.
Precooling, warehouse refrigeration, refrigerated transport, and
marketing are four commercial CCL links, and the main responsibility
for food safety is held by FBOs. Although a self-inspection system and
hazard analysis and critical control can be applied to FBOs, it may be
inevitable that most food loss occurs in these stages. Fortunately, this
phenomenon results in relatively little food waste and environmental
effects because the food can be used for animal feed. Once fresh food is
purchased by the consumer, food safety mainly depends on their
behavior and domestic environment. Food is often wasted because it
finds no alternative use at the household level, so severe food loss (or
waste) and a high risk of foodborne illness occur at this end of the CCL,
even in developed countries, due to ignorance of good hygiene and
refrigeration practices. However, most food loss and foodborne illness
that occurs in households are avoidable through regular temperature
verification, refrigeration disinfection, and improved household hygiene
for food handling, preparation, and cooking. Advances in information
technology have significant potential for reducing the rate of food loss
and foodborne disease throughout the CCL, which is a major driving
force promoting the intelligent and efficient development of the CCL.
However, these technologies require further support and research from
experts, countries, and industries, such as technology implementation,
infrastructure configuration, data security, privacy protection, and
robust legal frameworks.
In China, the development of CCL digitization is hindered by low-
quality infrastructure, a poor degree of automation, inappropriate
standards, and insufficient specialization of labor, to list only a few of
the key problems, with the result being a wide digitization gap with
developed countries. Government regulation and financial intervention
should be effective and powerful means to overcome the challenges of
infrastructure renovation and standardization upgrades, which can also
help the development of third-party CCL enterprises and improve CCL
services for farmers and small retailers. Finally, the cultivation of
interdisciplinary talents should prove vital to promote the comprehen
­
sive and stable development of CCL and would require collaboration
between national regulating bodies, universities, industry, consumers,
and interdisciplinary experts.
549
Trends in Food Science & Technology 109 (2021) 536–551
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the Young Investigator Fund of Beijing
Academy of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences (QNJJ202016), Research
and Development Projects in Key Areas of Guangdong Province, China
(2019B020225001), Opening Foundation of National Engineering Lab
­
oratory for Agri-product Quality Traceability, Beijing Technology and
Business University (AQT-2019-YB3), Reform and Development project
of Beijing Academy of Agricultural and Forestry Science in 2020 –
Innovation Capacity Building Project of National and Provincial Labo
­
ratories for Information Center (PXM2020_179202_000122), and Na
­
tional Engineering Laboratory for Agri-product Quality Traceability,
Beijing Academy of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences (PT2020-26).
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