Post-harvest proteomics and food security

Abstract

To guarantee sufficient food supply for a growing world population, efforts towards improving crop yield and plant resistance should be complemented with efforts to reduce post-harvest losses. Post-harvest losses are substantial and occur at different stages of the food chain in developed and developing countries. In recent years, a substantially increasing interest can be seen in the application of proteomics to understand post-harvest events. In the near future post-harvest proteomics will be poised to move from fundamental research to aiding the reduction of food losses. Proteomics research can help in reducing food losses through (i) identification and validation of gene products associated to specific quality traits supporting marker-assisted crop improvement programmes, (ii) delivering markers of initial quality that allow optimisation of distribution conditions and prediction of remaining shelf-life for decision support systems and (iii) delivering early detection tools of physiological or pathogen-related post-harvest problems. In this manuscript, recent proteomics studies on post-harvest and stress physiology are reviewed and discussed. Perspectives on future directions of post-harvest proteomics studies aiming to reduce food losses are presented.

Analysis of changes in protein abundance after wounding in ‘Golden Delicious’ apples

“…This is then followed by colonization of the fruit tissue (Droby et al, 2008). Therefore, mechanical damage, which can occur during harvesting, packing-house operations, handling and transport, represents a serious threat to fruit quality and can significantly reduce the economic value of the product (Van Zeebroeck et al, 2007;Pedreschi et al, 2013).…”

Food Proteins and Peptides

“…Much knowledge on protein expression change during vegetable development, maturation, and ripening has been acquired using tomato as model [184][185][186]. While in high-income countries, most of losses occur both at the retail and consumer levels, in developing countries, postharvest losses prevail, mainly due to inadequate postharvest and processing practices, and they are a significant portion of the total production.…”

“…While in high-income countries, most of losses occur both at the retail and consumer levels, in developing countries, postharvest losses prevail, mainly due to inadequate postharvest and processing practices, and they are a significant portion of the total production. Indeed, one of the most common problems is that after harvesting, fruits and vegetables are subjected to various stresses, both biotic and abiotic, which may compromise the quality and shelf life [17,184]. Although staple crops (cereals, soybean, cassava, etc.)…”

Assessment of Technological Knowledge on Pre- and Post-harvest Agricultural Management System and its Economic Impacts in Bangladesh

“…However, in developed countries losses in post harvest chain are generally small during processing, handling and storage because of availability and affordability of advanced technology, strictness in management of variables that may lead into losses and the high-quality standards set by retailers. [17,29]. In developing countries post-harvest, losses are higher since most of the countries are characterized by lack or the use of old or poor equipment and lack of skilled managers for assisting in losses reduction in the food sector properly [17].…”