Postharvest preservation technologies for Canadian-grown horticulture as a strategy to reduce food waste

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Postharvest fruit and vegetable waste accounts for a large proportion of preventable food loss that is diverted to landfills around the world. These food losses have widespread negative ramifications on food security and environmental sustainability. To date, there is a lack of feasible technology for the postharvest preservation of perishable horticulture, including crops derived from Canadian producers. Improved practices and technologies for better preservation of horticultural produce can lessen food waste, and hence prolong food preservation. There is widespread knowledge that fruit and vegetables that are well preserved after harvest coincide with the maintenance of antioxidant (e.g., vitamin C) composition. Currently, there is little information on the optimal practices and/or postharvest technologies for some of the most highly perishable crops, including leafy green vegetables, mushrooms and berries. In addition, it is not known how natural preservatives within these products are altered postharvest. Our research program is focused on developing optimal postharvest storage practices or freshness formulation applications for the preservation of Canadian horticulture. We will develop a freshness formulation by recovering unique antioxidants from mushroom waste and then testing their impact on the postharvest quality of highly perishable horticultural products, such as berries and leafy green vegetables.A second aim is to use a value-chain analysis to uncover the drivers and bottlenecks in the fruit and vegetable production industry for adoption of novel freshness formulation practices, including those that are antioxidant-based. The proposed research will provide unique training opportunities for 2 PhD in multidisciplinary research, including food preservation coupled with classical biochemistry, analytical chemistry, and value chain technology skills that are in high demand within the scientific and economic industry sectors. The research will also provide foundation information to inform better decision-making for horticultural producers, and will develop preservation practices that widely impact the horticultural sector.