Innovations in postharvest technologies for food security and safety, and for value addition to agricultural residues

必须在人口增长超过70亿、气候变化和环境退化的背景下解决粮食保障和安全问题。 在全球范围内，三分之一收获的粮食在到达消费者手中之前就因损坏、腐烂和害虫而损失。防止这种损失将有助于确保粮食安全，减轻为粮食生产而砍伐森林的需要。为了解决这些问题，该计划的目标是：1）开发利用电子技术干燥和热处理作物的方法，以防止退化; 2）开发产品储存技术，以保持质量并增加营养成分; 3）开发电子技术工艺，利用废弃生物质生产生物燃料和生物活性化合物。因此，该计划的目标是充分利用收获的生物质作为可以安全消费的营养来源，以及剩余生物质的生物能源和生物产品。* 我在干燥和热处理食品的研究是集中在开发电子技术系统（如。微波（MW））以直接在生物质中产生热量。这比使用外部热源更快速和有效;由于暴露时间更短，食品质量受到的影响更小。我们已经使用MW从生物质中提取有价值的化合物，对鸡蛋进行巴氏杀菌，并对谷物进行消毒。拟议的计划继续这一研究路线，这是由我以前的发现补助金的资金支持。我们现在正在研究使用高压电场来干燥温度敏感的食物;这也会导致蛋白质变性，这可以用来解决蛋白质的过敏性（例如，蛋白质的过敏性）。面筋）。我最近的工作重点是利用物理压力来刺激抗氧化剂的生产过程中产生的存储。这导致了在储存之前对农产品进行高压处理的研究，以提高质量并延长不冷藏的保质期。我们将开发和改造这项技术，以便在缺乏冷链系统的地区实地使用。* 我以前的发现资助计划的工作结果，从生物质中提取生物活性成分的MW辅助，使我们研究使用植物残留物作为生物燃料和生物能源的来源。我们正在开发一种MW辅助工艺，用于在农场层面分离木质纤维素材料的组分，以生产生物燃料。纯化后的材料价格更高，这将为农民提供额外的收入，并且紧凑，这将降低生物精炼厂的运输成本。我们将使用多学科的方法来解决研究问题的生物和工程方面，以实现可行的解决方案，从而为HQP提供全面的培训机会。

Food security and safety issues must be met within the context of population growth beyond 7 billion, climate change, and environmental degradation. Globally, a third of harvested food is lost to damage, rot, and vermin before it reaches the consumer. Preventing such losses will help ensure food security and relieve the need to deforest land for food production. To address these issues, the program's objectives are to: 1) develop methods using electro-technologies to dry and thermally process crops to prevent degradation; 2) develop storage technologies for produce to maintain quality and increase nutrient content; and 3) develop electro-technological processes to use waste biomass to produce biofuels and bioactive compounds. The program's goals are thus to make total use of harvested biomass as a source of nutrition that can be safely consumed, and of bioenergy and bioproducts from residual biomass. ***My research in drying and heat treating foods is focused on developing electro-technology systems (eg. microwaves (MW)) to generate heat directly in the biomass. This is more rapid and efficient than using external heat sources; and since exposure time is shorter, food quality is less affected. We have used MWs to extract valued compounds from biomass, pasteurize eggs, and disinfest grains. The proposed program continues this line of study which was supported by funding from my previous Discovery Grant. We are now working on using high voltage electric-fields to dry temperature-sensitive foods; this also causes protein denaturation, which can be used to address allergenic properties of proteins (eg. gluten).***My recent work on storage focused on using physical stresses to stimulate antioxidant production in produce during storage. This has led to studies on hyperbaric treatment of produce prior to storage to improve quality and to extend shelf life without refrigeration. We will develop and adapt this technology for field use in regions that lack cold chain systems. ***The results of the work of my previous Discovery Grant program on MW-assisted extraction of bioactive components from biomass has led us to study the use of plant residues as sources of biofuels and bioenergy. We are developing a MW-assisted process for use at the farm level to separate components of lignocellulosic materials for production of biofuels. The purified material fetches a higher price which will provide additional income to farmers, and is compact which will lower transportation costs to bio-refineries.***We will use a multi-disciplinary approach to address the biological and engineering aspects of research questions to achieve viable solutions leading to a holistic training opportunity for HQP.**