Hussein assigment

The impact of post-harvest losse to nutrition security

Introduction to post harvest losse

Postharvest loss can be defined as the degradation in both quantity and quality of a food production from
harvest to consumption. Quality losses include those that affect the nutrient/caloric composition, the
acceptability, and the edibility of a given product. These losses are generally more common in developed
countries. Quantity losses refer to those that result in the loss of the amount of a product. Loss of quantity
is more common in developing countries. A recent FAO report indicates that at global level, volumes of
lost and wasted food in high income regions are higher in downstream phases of the food chain, but just
the opposite in low-income regions where more food is lost and wasted in upstream phases.

Food security affects almost everyone on the globe; Sub-Saharan Africa has the widespread chronic food
insecurity. As of May 2006, for example, out of thirty nine countries in the world which were
experiencing serious food emergencies and required external assistance for dealing with critical food
insecurity: twenty five were in Africa, eleven in Asia and Near East, two in Latin America and one in
Europe? Established that these food crises are fuelled by mainly armed conflict, often compounded by
drought, floods and the effects of the AIDS pandemic. These have vast impact on food production and
food security as millions of people who are driven from their homes are unable to work their fields; they
are also cut off from markets for their produce and from commercial supplies of seed, fertilizer and credit.

Post-Harvest Loss (PHL) has potential effects on nutrition security and nutrition through the four
dimensions of food security: Availability, Access, Utilization and Stability.

• Reduced losses increase access and availability.

• Reduced on-farm losses help farmers by improving diet or providing higher incomes.

• Reduced losses increase supplies and lower prices along the supply chain, in local areas, and also in
faraway urban areas. Impact of PHL on nutrition Security

The link between post-harvest and nutrition security

Cereals like maize are one of the major staple food crops in Sub- Saharan Africa. However, the climate and
conditions of this area attract a huge number of factors that contribute to the destruction of the crops especially
at the post-harvest level. Whenever crops are grown, insect pests and phytopathogenic microorganisms are
attracted; hence the strategies which a county or individual farmers employ in post-harvest management will
determine the farm utilization priority, grain quality in the market, food diversification, food security and
general living standards of the people involved. However, due to poor post-harvest management strategies in
the sub-Saharan region, there has been a repeated cycle of food production and post-harvest losses which have
systematically depleted the mineral quality of the farms leaving substantial food insecurity in the region.
Although Africa is endowed with the highest level of plant diversities in the world, many of these have not
been domesticated because the available land for such trials is always occupied by the same type of stable
crops. Much of product losses are due to poor storage facilities: for example, the use of traditional wooden
cribs which harbor pests like the lesser and larger grain borers; indiscriminate use of pesticides which has
increased pesticide resistance of insects; high humidity and moisture content of grains during storage; climate
change which has caused the time of harvest and drying to be largely unpredictable. However, proper post-
harvest management strategies can enable farmers to store high quality grain which can fetch high prices in the
global market. Moreover, the storage can enable a farmer to subsequently grow a different type of crop which
can make a farmer to practice crop rotation

Impacts of Post-Harvest loss (Phl) and nutrition security

Postharvest technologies can contribute to food security in multiple ways. They can reduce PHL,
thereby increasing the amount of food available for consumption by farmers and poor rural and
urban consumers. For example, the control of the Larger Grain Borer (LGB) greatly reduced the loss
of maize in on-farm storage among smallholders in a number of African countries, thus improving
their food security. The benefits to consumers from reducing losses include lower prices and
improved food security. Techniques to reduce food losses require cultural and economic adaption.
This is so because all food losses occur at a particular socio-cultural environment. The issue of food
losses is of high importance in the efforts to combat hunger, raise income and improve food security
in the world’s poorest countries.

Current world population is expected to reach 10.5 billion by 2050, further adding to global food
security concerns. This increase translates into 33% more human mouths to feed, with the greatest
demand growth in the poor communities of the world. According to food supplies would need to
increase by 60% (estimated at 2005 food production levels) in order to meet the food demand in
2050. Food availability and accessibility can be increased by increasing production, improving
distribution, and reducing the losses. Thus, reduction of post-harvest food losses is a critical
component of ensuring future global food security.

Food and Agriculture Organization of U.N. predicts that about 1.3 billion tons of food are globally
wasted or lost per year. Reduction in these losses would increase the amount of food available for
human consumption and enhance global food security, a growing concern with rising food prices due
to growing consumer demand, increasing demand for biofuel and other industrial uses, and
increased weather variability. A reduction in food also improves food security by increasing the real
income for all the consumers (World Bank, 2011). In addition, crop production contributes significant
proportion of typical incomes in certain regions of the world (70 percent in Sub- Saharan Africa) and
reducing food loss can directly increase the real incomes of the producers (World Bank, 2011).

Over the past decades, significant focus and resources have been allocated to increase food
production. For example, 95% of the research investments during the past 30 years were reported to
have focused on increasing productivity and only 5% directed towards reducing losses. Increasing
agricultural productivity is critical for ensuring global food security, but this may not be sufficient.
Food production is currently being challenged by limited land, water and increased weather
variability due to climate change. To sustainably achieve the goals of food security, food availability
needs to be also increased through reductions in the post-harvest process at farm, retail and
consumer levels.

Food losses do not merely reduce food available for human consumption but also cause negative
externalities to society through costs of waste management, greenhouse gas production, and loss of
scarce resources used in their production. Food loss is estimated to be equivalent to 6-10 percent of
human-generated greenhouse gas emissions. A significant contributor of this problem is through
methane gas generation in landfills where food waste decomposes anaerobically.

Considering the criticality of post-harvest loss reduction in enhancing the food security, it becomes
very important to know the pattern and scale of these losses across the world, especially in
developing countries, and identify its causes and possible solutions. Although losses occur at each
stage of the supply chain from production to consumer level, storage losses are considered most
critical in developing countries. Technology interventions play a critical role in addressing the issue
of PHL, and several efforts have been made to develop and disseminate these technologies for
smallholders in developing.

Short-term impacts of post harvest loss: It is generally agreed in the literature, that some food
wastage interventions can have a direct impact on short-term food security conditions. This is
particularly true for pre- and post-harvest loss reduction actions in developing countries, particularly
interventions at a local level in smallholder agriculture. Not only can these actions positively affect
national food supplies, they also contribute to enhanced household food security by increasing
farmers’ incomes and ensuring year-round food availability. Pre- and post-harvest loss reduction can
help smallholders to adapt to climate variability.

Middle-and long-term impacts of post harvest losse: In this section, two categories of more
indirect impacts of food wastage interventions on middle-and long-term food security are
synthesized. The first group of impacts concerns those that have an effect on food security in a
narrow sense, i.e. on the direct availability, affordability, stability of and access to food. The second
group is related to impacts on the broader food system factors that interact with these food security
dimensions, notably environmental conditions and natural resources.

and availability of financial markets.

Mohammed

Introduction
Both the practical agricultural use of ethylene (C H ), and the basic 2 4

biochemistry and physiology of C H have been extensively studied for

2 4

many decades (Abeles et al., 1992). Elucidation of the

C H biosynthetic pathway by Adams and Yang (1979) and the recent
2 4

application of molecular biology to unravel the complexities of

C H biosynthesis and action have greatly stimulated research in this
2 4

area (Yang, 1985, DellaPenna and Giovannoni, 1991, Grierson and

Schuch, 1994, Kanellis et al., 1997). However, much of what is known
about the effects of C H on the quality of fresh fruits and vegetables
2 4

has been slowly amassed since the 1920s, and needs constant
updating. The introduction of new cultural practices, cultivars, harvest
and handling methods, postharvest treatments, consumer products
and packaging influence the effect C H has on quality attributes.
2 4
Continued research in these areas, though not as glamorous as in
biotech. areas, provides the foundation upon which the commercial
agricultural use of C H is based. The information presented in this
2 4

review has been gleaned from recent publications and from past
reviews on the biochemistry and physiology of C H (Abeles et al.,
2 4

1992, Kanellis et al., 1997, Saltveit et al., 1998), its role in postharvest
handling (Kader, 1985, Weichmann, 1987, Yang, 1987), and its effect
on food quality (Watada, 1986, Lougheed et al., 1987).
Ethylene is a naturally produced, simple two carbon gaseous plant
growth regulator that has numerous effects on the growth,
development and storage life of many fruits, vegetables and
ornamental crops (Table 1). This powerful plant hormone is effective
at part-per-million (ppm, μl l ) to part-per-billion (ppb, nl l )
−1 −1

concentrations. Both the synthesis and action of C H involve2 4

complicated metabolic processes, which require oxygen and are

sensitive to elevated concentrations of carbon dioxide. Endogenous
sensitivity to C H changes during plant development, as does its rate
2 4

of synthesis and loss by diffusion from the plant.

The responses to endogenously produced and exogenously applied
C H are numerous and varied (Table 2), and are only beneficial or
2 4

detrimental when viewed anthropomorphicly (Table 3). For example,

effects that are viewed as beneficial include the promotion of flowering
in pineapple (Ananas comosus) and the hastening of ripening in
tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) and melons (Cucumis melo).
Effects that are viewed as deleterious include the abortion of flowers
and the development of russet spotting in lettuce (Lactuca sativa).
Often the same response (e.g. acceleration of chlorophyll loss,
promotion of ripening, or stimulation of phenylpropanoid metabolism)
is viewed as beneficial in some crops (e.g. degreening of citrus,
ripening of climacteric fruit, and stimulating defenses against
pathogens) and detrimental in others (e.g. yellowing of green
vegetables, excessive softening of fruit, or browning of lettuce; Table
3).
Plants produce C H , but only ripening climacteric fruit and diseased or
2 4

wounded tissue produce it in sufficient amounts to affect adjacent

tissue. In all but ripening climacteric fruit tissue, C H suppresses its
2 4

own synthesis. As climacteric fruit start to ripen, this negative

feedback inhibition of C H on C H synthesis changes into a positive
2 4 2 4

feedback promotion in which C H stimulates its own synthesis (i.e.

2 4

autocatalytic C H production) and copious amounts of C H are

2 4 2 4

produced (Yang, 1987).

Once the ripening of climacteric fruit has started, the internal
C H concentration quickly increases to saturation levels and
2 4

exogenous application of C H has no further promotive effect on

2 4

ripening. Reducing the external concentration of C H around bulky 2 4

fruit (e.g. apples (Malus domestica), bananas (Musa spp.), melons

and tomatoes) has almost no effect on reducing the internal
concentration in these ripening climacteric fruit because of the large
diffusion resistance of their skin and flesh. In these fruit, the rate of
production far outstrips the rate of diffusive losses until a fairly high
level is reach. Internal C H concentration can exceed 100 μl l , even
2 4
−1

when the external concentration is zero. Therefore, reducing the

external C H concentration by ventilation or with C H scrubbers
2 4 2 4

generally has no effect on the subsequent ripening of fruit that have

progressed a few days into their climacteric. However, at the initial
stages of ripening when internal C H levels are still low, enhancing the 2 4

rate of diffusion with low-pressure storage or inhibiting the synthesis or

action of C H can significantly retard ripening.
2 4

Sources of C H not only include other plants (e.g. a ripe apple in a

2 4

paper bag to promote the ripening of bananas), but also includes

smoke, exhaust gases, compressed C H gas, C H releasing 2 4 2 4

chemicals (e.g. ethephon), catalytic production of C H from ethanol, 2 4

and C H analogues produced by a variety of processes. Other

2 4

gaseous chemicals are analogs of C H (Table 4) and can elicit the 2 4

same physiological effects as C H , but often much higher 2 4

concentrations are required to produce the same effect (Abeles et al.,

1992). These analogs are useful in studies of C H action when 2 4

C H production by the tissue is one of the factors being measured.

2 4

The response of the tissue to C H exposure depends on the 2 4

sensitivity of the tissue, concentration of C H , composition of the 2 4

atmosphere, duration of exposure, and temperature (Table 5).

Ethylene synthesis and action

Ethylene production is promoted by stresses such as chilling (Wang, 1990) and wounding
(Abeles et al., 1992), and this stress-induced C2H4 can enhance fruit ripening. However, these
stresses also induce other physiological changes (e.g. enhanced respiration and phenylpropanoid
metabolism) and it is difficult at time to deduce whether it is the stress per se or one of the stress-
induced changes (e.g. stimulated C2H4 production) that is producing the effect. In the case of
lettuce, and probably

Beneficial effects of ethylene

The beneficial effects of C2H4 are realized by its application to growing plants in the field and
orchard, to plants in the greenhouse, and to harvested commodities (Table 6). Field application
of C2H4 became practical with the development of C2H4 releasing chemicals like ethephon; (2-
chloroethyl)phosphonic acid. Ethylene has been used in this liquid form to effect seed
germination and bulb sprouting, to retard growth, to reduce apical dominance, to initiate or
inhibit root initiation, to

Detrimental effects of ethylene

The detrimental effects of C2H4 on quality center on altering or accelerating the same natural
processes of development, ripening and senescence that are viewed as beneficial in a different
context. For example, promoting chlorophyll destruction would be detrimental in lettuce, (but it
would be beneficial in the curing of tobacco), or it could be beneficial in the degreening of
lemons, (but it would be detrimental in the storage of limes). Unless intentionally added to the
storage environment

Effects of ethylene on appearance

Consumers equate the visual appearance of fresh fruit and vegetables with quality. Ethylene
enhances the appearance of many fruit by stimulating their ripening. Rapid development of the
characteristic color can produce a higher quality fruit since less time will have elapsed from
harvest for anabolic reactions to occur.

The skin of early season citrus fruit is still green when the flesh has become edible. Treatment
with C2H4 accelerates chlorophyll degradation and the appearance of yellow or

Effects of ethylene on texture

Apart from its beneficial effect on promoting tissue softening during fruit ripening,
C2H4 detrimentally effects the texture by promoting unwanted softening in cucumbers and
peppers, or toughening in asparagus, and sweetpotatoes. The firmness of many ripening fruit and
vegetables decreases with C2H4 treatment. This is usually beneficial when associated with
ripening (e.g. apricots, avocados, melons, pears and tomatoes), but if applied for too long,
ripening can progress into senescence and the

Effects of ethylene on taste and flavor

Ethylene biosynthesis rises prodigiously in ripening climacteric fruit and is thought to coordinate
many ripening phenomena (Abeles et al., 1992). In general, C2H4 enhances taste and flavor by
stimulating fruit ripening (Watada, 1986). However, total volatile development in tomatoes
picked mature-green and ripened with C2H4 never attained the levels produced by fruit ripened on
the plant (Stern et al., 1994). For example, the most important aroma compound (Z)-3-hexenal,
was 31% and 17% higher

Vitamin C

The average content of ascorbic acid in ripe tomatoes for fruit harvested mature-green and red-
rip were not significantly different (Watada et al., 1976). Variations in ascorbic acid content
were large, with differences among the cultivars greater than between ripe fruit harvested as
mature-green or red-ripe. The ascorbic acid content of fruit harvested mature-green and ripened
with the aid of C2H4 was higher than for untreated fruit. However, this effect was not consistent
among fruit from

Summary

A better understanding of C2H4 synthesis, perception and action should allow the development of
postharvest strategies to enhance the beneficial effects and mitigate the detrimental effects of
C2H4 on the quality of fresh fruits and vegetables. But it should be kept in mind that many so-
called detrimental effects of C2H4 are simply responses that are unwanted in certain situations,
but which are beneficial in others.