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，三分之一的收获食品在到达消费者手中之前就被损坏、腐烂和害虫所破坏。防止此类损失将有助于确保粮食安全，并缓解为生产粮食而砍伐林地的需要。为了解决这些问题，该计划的目标是：1)开发利用电子技术对作物进行干燥和热加工的方法，以防止退化；2)开发农产品的储存技术，以保持质量并增加营养含量；3)开发电子技术流程，利用废弃的生物质来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安全消费的营养来源，以及利用剩余生物质生产生物能源和生物制品。*我在食品干燥和热处理方面的研究专注于开发电子技术系统(例如。微波(MW))直接在生物质中产生热量。这比使用外部热源更快、更有效；而且由于暴露时间较短，对食品质量的影响较小。我们已经使用MWs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。拟议中的计划延续了这一研究路线，这是由我之前的探索基金资助的。我们现在正在研究使用高压电场来干燥对温度敏感的食物；这也会导致蛋白质变性，这可以用来解决蛋白质的致敏特性(例如。面筋)。*我最近在储藏方面的工作集中在利用物理压力来刺激农产品在储藏过程中产生抗氧化剂。这导致了对产品在储存前进行高压处理的研究，以提高质量并延长保质期，而不需要冷藏。我们将开发和调整这项技术，用于缺乏冷链系统的地区的现场使用。我之前的发现资助计划关于从生物质中微波辅助提取生物活性成分的工作成果使我们研究将植物残渣用作生物燃料和生物能源的来源。我们正在开发一种在农场一级使用的微波辅助工艺，以分离用于生产生物燃料的木质纤维材料的组分。提纯材料的价格更高，这将为农民提供额外的收入，而且紧凑，将降低生物精炼厂的运输成本。*我们将使用多学科方法来解决研究问题的生物和工程方面的问题，以获得可行的解决方案，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.**