The preservation of high quality soybeans seeds in Brazil can be affected by the region‟s climate and its handling during the off-season. Therefore, this work aimed to evaluate storage techniques of soy preserved in high temperature, as occurs in Midwestern regions of the country, with the exposure of soybeans seeds to ultraviolet radiation, storage in the controlled and modified atmosphere with an injection of inert gases in a silo. The BMX Potency RR‟ and NA 5909 RR‟ cultivars were stored in 20L mini bulk for six months at a temperature of 25°C and relative air humidity of 60%. The following treatments were evaluated: control (open mini silo); controlled atmosphere (CA); 1 kPa of O2 + 0 kPa of CO2; 1 kPa of O2 + 30 kPa of CO2; 7 kPa of O2 + 50 kPa of CO2; exposure to UV-B and UV-C radiation. The quality of the soybeans seeds was assessed at the beginning and after a period of six months of storage by the following parameters: seeds water content; germination; electrical conductivity; seedling emergence on field and sanitary analysis. The soybeans seeds water content decreased in all of the treatments during the storage. The CA treatment with partial pressures of 1 kPa O2 + 30 kPa CO2 was the only condition that kept the soybean seeds germination above 80%, differing from the control treatment in both cultivars. The high incidence of Aspergillus flavus did not damage the germination of soybeans seeds stored in CA. This technique could be an alternative to the conventional and cool storage in hot regions during the soy crop off-season. The use of high CO2 levels and the UV radiation inhibited the development of Penicillium spp; the high incidence of Aspergillus flavus also inhibited the development of this fungus. / A conservação de sementes de soja de alta qualidade no Brasil pode ser afetada pelo clima da região e manejo durante a entressafra. Deste modo este trabalho objetivou avaliar técnicas de armazenamento de soja conservada em alta temperatura, como ocorre em regiões do centro-oeste do país, com a exposição das sementes à radiação ultravioleta, armazenamento em atmosfera modificada e controlada com injeção de gases inertes nos silos. Utilizou-se as cultivares de soja BMX Potência RR‟ e NA 5909 RR‟, que foram armazenadas em minisilos de 20 L por seis meses a 25°C e umidade relativa do ar de 60%. Os seguintes tratamentos foram avaliados: testemunha (minisilo aberto); atmosfera controlada (AC): 1 kPa de O2 + 0 kPa de CO2; 1 kPa de O2 + 30 kPa de CO2; 7 kPa de O2 + 50 kPa de CO2; exposição à radiação UV-B e à radiação UV-C. A qualidade das sementes foi avaliada no início e após o período de seis meses de armazenamento quanto aos seguintes parâmetros: teor de água nas sementes; germinação; condutividade elétrica; emergência de plântulas a campo e análise sanitária. O teor de água das sementes diminuiu em todos os tratamentos durante o armazenamento. O tratamento AC com pressões parciais de 1 kPa O2 + 30 kPa CO2 foi a única condição que manteve a germinação das sementes acima de 80%, diferindo da testemunha nas duas cultivares. A alta incidência de Aspergillus flavus não prejudicou a germinação das sementes armazenadas em AC, esta técnica pode ser uma alternativa ao armazenamento convencional e refrigerado para o período da entressafra da cultura da soja em regiões de clima quente. O uso do alto CO2 e da radiação UV inibiu o desenvolvimento de Penicillium spp e a alta incidência de Aspergillus flavus também inibiu o desenvolvimento daquele fungo.

This study was aimed at exploring data analysis techniques for generating accurate estimates of the loss in quality of fresh fruits, vegetables and cut flowers in chilled supply chains based on data from advanced sensors. It was motivated by the recent interest in the application of advanced sensors, by emerging concepts in quality controlled logistics, and by the desire to minimise quality losses during transport and storage of the produce. Cut roses were used in this work although the findings will also be applicable to other produce. The literature has reported that whilst temperature was considered to be the most critical post-harvest factor, others such as growing conditions could also be important in the senescence of cut roses. Kinetic modelling was the most commonly used modelling approach for shelf life predictions of foods and perishable produce, but not for estimating vase life (VL) of cut flowers, and so this was explored in this work along with multiple linear regression (MLR) and partial least squares (PLS). As the senescence of cut roses is not fully understood, kinetic modelling could not be implemented directly. Consequently, a novel technique, called Kinetic Linear System (KLS), was developed based on kinetic modelling principles. Simulation studies of shelf life predictions for tomatoes, mushrooms, seasoned soybean sprouts, cooked shrimps and other seafood products showed that the KLS models could effectively replace the kinetic ones. With respect to VL predictions KLS, PLS and MLR were investigated for data analysis from an in-house experiment with cut roses from Cookes Rose Farm (Jersey). The analysis concluded that when the initial and final VLs were available for model calibration, effective estimates of the post-harvest loss in VL of cut roses could be obtained using the post-harvest temperature. Otherwise, when the initial VLs were not available, such effective estimates could not be obtained. Moreover, pre-harvest conditions were shown to correlate with the VL loss but the correlation was too weak to produce or improve an effective estimate of the loss. The results showed that KLS performance was the best while PLS one could be acceptable; but MLR performance was not adequate. In another experiment, boxes of cut roses were transported from a Kenyan farm to a UK distribution centre. Using KLS and PLS techniques, the analysis showed that the growing temperature could be used to obtain effective estimates of the VLs at the farm, at the distribution centre and also the in-transit loss. Further, using post-harvest temperature would lead to a smaller error for the VL at the distribution centre and the VL loss. Nevertheless, the estimates of the VL loss may not be useful practically due to the excessive relative prediction error. Overall, although PLS had a slightly smaller prediction error, KLS worked effectively in many cases where PLS failed, it could handle constraints while PLS could not.In conclusion, KLS and PLS can be used to generate effective estimates of the post-harvest VL loss of cut roses based on post-harvest temperature stresses recorded by advanced sensors. However, the estimates may not be useful practically due to significant relative errors. Alternatively, pre-harvest temperature could be used although it may lead to slightly higher errors. Although PLS had slightly smaller errors KLS was more robust and flexible. Further work is recommended in the objective evaluations of product quality, alternative non-linear techniques and dynamic decision support system.

A cultura do abacateiro vem ganhando expressividade, contudo, a abscisão natural de frutos representa um entrave, pois o desprendimento dos mesmos, pelo aumento dos níveis de etileno e diminuição de auxinas ocorre intensamente nas cultivares \"Quintal\" e \"Margarida\". Em 2014 e 2015 foi conduzido um experimento nas fazendas Santa Cecilia e Santa Elisa, nos municípios de Bernardino de Campos e Timburi-SP com o objetivo de avaliar em condições de sequeiro, o efeito de diferentes fitorreguladores na abscisão, produção, alternância produtiva, tamanho, formato e qualidade pós-colheita de frutos de abacateiros \"Quintal\" e \"Margarida\". Os tratamentos foram: T1: Água e espalhante; T2: 25 mg.L-1 de Ester isopropílico de ácido 2,4-D diclorofenoxiacético; T3: 45 mg.L-1 de AVG aplicados em novembro de 2013 e de 2014; e T4: Fosfito de potássio na dose de 400 ml.100 litros-1 de água aplicado entre dezembro de 2013 e janeiro de 2014 e dezembro de 2014 e janeiro de 2015, em intervalos de 15 dias. O ensaio foi conduzido em delineamento de blocos casualizados, com 4 tratamentos, 4 repetições de duas árvores cada, totalizando 32 plantas em avaliação para cada cultivar. Os dados foram submetidos à análise da variância pelo teste de Fisher a 5% de significância e as variáveis que não atenderam os supostos desta, foram submetidas a análises não paramétricas pelo teste de Friedman e Kruskal-Wallis. A aplicação de aminoethoxivinilglicina (AVG), um mês antes da segunda queda fisiológica dos frutos, reduz a abscisão e altera o formato de abacates \'Quintal\'. Na cultivar \'Margarida\', o uso de fosfito de potássio aumenta a fixação de frutos e o de 2,4-D altera o formato dos mesmos. Nenhum efeito da aplicação dos fitorreguladores foi observado para as variáveis de qualidade pós-colheita em ambas as cultivares. / Avocado cultivation is becoming very important in Brazil, although the abundant natural fruit drop represents a serious constraint in some cultivars such as \'Quintal\' and \'Margarida\', which exhibit high fruit drop rates due to increased ethylene synthesis and a reduction of internal auxin levels. In the 2014- 2015 period this experiment were conducted at Santa Elisa and Santa Cecilia farm placed at Bernardino de Campos and Timburi city, in São Paulo state, with the propose to value the effects of different plant growth regulators (PGRs) at fruit drop, at the production, at the on/off production phenomenon, at the form and at the size, and also, at the post-harvest quality of \'Quintal\' and \'Margarida\' cultivars planted in dry field. The following treatments were applied in December, before the second natural fruit drop: T1: water (control); T2: 25 mg.L-1 of isopropilic ester of 2,4-D diclorofenoxiacetic acid; T3: 45 mg.L-1 of AVG, and T4: 3 sprayings of 400 ml.100 L-1 potassium phosphite in biweekly intervals from mid-December thru mid-January, in each year. The trial was conducted following a randomized complete block design, with four replications and two plants per plot, with a total of 32 trees under evaluation for each cultivar. Data analyses were performed by parametric (Fisher) and by nonparametric (Friedman and Kruskal Wallis) for variables that did not fit the normal distribution. AVG application about one month after the second natural fruit fall set this occurrence but modified the form of \'Quintal\' avocados. In the \'Margarida\' cultivar, sprayings with 2,4-D modified the form of the fruits and the application of potassium phosphite grow the flower fixation. No effect on postharvest quality attributes were observed among the treatments.

Thesis (MSc .(Plant Production)) -- University of Limpopo, 2016 / Delayed fruit harvest (DFH) or on-tree-fruit storage is a strategy being considered to extend the harvest season of late maturing ‘Reed’ avocado. However, avocado fruit growth beyond physiological maturity is accompanied by alterations in chemical and physical properties. Thus, the study aimed to investigate the effects of delayed harvest on tree productivity, mineral nutrition and post-harvest quality of late maturing ‘Reed’ avocado and further to evaluate the fruit quality response to varying ripening temperature regimes. As treatments, fruit were harvested early, mid and late in the season, with one month apart from each harvest during 2013 and 2014 seasons. Yield and fruit size were recorded at harvest. During each harvest time, two sets of fruit samples were collected to determine the fruit nutritional content while the second set was cold stored at 5.5°C for 28 days. After storage, fruit were ripened at 16, 21 or 25°C and evaluated for post-harvest disorders, pathological diseases and fruit physico-chemical properties. Yield dropped from 42 to 12 kg/tree from early to late harvest during 2013, while treatments showed no effect during 2014. Furthermore, treatments had no effect on fruit size during both seasons. Phosphorus content decreased by 40 and 23% from early to late harvest time during 2013 and 2014 seasons, respectively. Similar decreasing patterns were observed for K, Ca and Mg content. Zinc content remained constant during 2013; however, mid-season fruit maintained higher zinc levels during 2014 season when compared to early and late harvest time. Protein content was constant for early and mid-season fruit but significantly decreased during the late harvest in both seasons. Moisture content decreased from 74.0 to 65.0% from early to late harvest during both seasons. Starch, oil and ash content were high during late harvest time in both seasons; while crude fibre was high during the mid-harvest time when compared with early and late harvest time. Internal chilling injury increased with maturity and ripening temperature. In both seasons, higher temperatures induced higher anthracnose incidences during early and mid-harvest compared with late harvest time. Similarly, vascular browning was high on fruit ripened at 16°C during early and mid-harvest time but decreased on late harvest fruit during 2013. However, low ripening temperatures induced high incidences of vascular browning during 2014 season. Stem-end rot was high on fruit ripened at 16°C than 21 and 25°C during 2014 season. xvi Physico-chemical quality parameters showed similar behaviour in both seasons. Fruit lightness increased with ripening time regardless of ripening temperature during the early harvest, but remained constant during mid and late harvest. Hue angle (h0) and Chroma (C*) values were slightly reduced during ripening. Fruit ripened at 25°C had the highest respiration rate and reached a climacteric peak earlier (day 2) than fruit ripened at 21 and 16°C (day 4). Fruit firmness and weight loss were high and rapid at 25°C followed by 21 and 16°C regardless of the harvest time. Delayed harvest had no effect on yield and fruit size. Generally, nutritional content of avocado fruit increased with fruit maturity. Furthermore, fruit maturity played a major role in the response of fruit to ripening temperature. Higher temperature enhanced fruit ripening, but was conducive for development of post-harvest diseases. Keywords: Harvesting time, nutrition, yield, fruit size, ripening temperature, post-harvest quality

The world is facing a food shortage as the world’s population increases and arable land decreases. Despite this, the food industry is wasteful, and 30% - 40% of all produced food is lost before reaching the end consumer. Emerging technologies aim to increase the amount of food that can be grown per m2 or allow the growing of food in climates or on lands previously impossible. Four main farming techniques utilising these emerging technologies are Controlled Environment Agriculture, Hydroponic Farming, Urban Farming and Vertical farming. When used together, these techniques form the basis for what can be called a Plant Factory. Despite the positive effects these technologies have on the production rate, few Plant Factories have managed to achieve profitability. By creating support for developing the post-harvesting system for a plant factory, this thesis aims to aid in the development of profitable plant factories. The thesis uses Design Research Methodology to achieve this aim in three parts. The first part identifies the underlying factors of the post-harvesting system affecting plant factory profitability. The second presents a set of support components that will aid the developers to improve key factors affecting profitability. The third part is a case study where the support components applicability at targeting the key factors are evaluated, and suggestions for further improvements and testing of the support is suggested.  Further, using Design Research Methodology, the methods used to develop support in this thesis are presented to easily be replicated by other researchers to aid them in developing support for other industries and circumstances. The suitability of the developed support was tested using the principles of an initial DS-II. The developed support proved very useful for the investigated case, and with its conditions, the application evaluation was considered a partial success. Two key factors were successfully improved and indicated that the intended support is ready for a comprehensive DS-II. A third support component needs more work to provide the intended support fully. Therefore a second  PS iteration is recommended before a comprehensive DS-II is done to increase its value.

Thesis (PhD (Chemical Engineering))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2019 / The agro-processing industry is currently facing losses due to microbial spoilage of agricultural produce and associated value-added products such as beverages. Decay and undesired fermentation of fruit and beverages by fungal, yeast and bacterial spoilage organisms are among the major contributors of product losses in the food industry. When looking at the different level of food spoilage, it is common to find different spoilage organisms occurring in the same food item; which usually requires food producers to utilise a mixture of synthetic preservatives for spoilage organism control. Some of the synthetic chemical compounds with growth inhibition properties that have been used in food preservation are sulphur dioxide, benzoic, lactic, sorbic and acetic acid. These compounds act against a variety of spoilage microorganisms. In post-harvest control of fungi, triazoles, hydroanilide fenhexamid, dicarboximides and succinate dehydrogenase are also being used. Some spoilage organisms have been found to be resistant to the use of synthetic chemical preservatives which usually favour the use of higher dosage of preservatives in food. The use of synthetic chemicals as preservative and as postharvest control agents has been found to present serious health risks such as cardiovascular diseases, muscles and stomach pains, eyesight and skin damages and impairment of brain functions. The problem posed by the current use of synthetic chemicals in food put pressure on food producers and exporters to seek alternatives that will allow for the eradication of the use of synthetic chemicals as preservative in beverages and as postharvest control agents on fruits. Yeasts have been found to have the ability to grow at a faster rate on cheap media and to colonise dried surfaces rapidly. It has also been found that yeasts produce extracellular compounds of proteinaceous and volatile organic nature with growth inhibition properties against spoilage organisms. The current findings lack some engineering concept that could assist in the design of a production system for high scale production of biopreservation compounds from yeasts. The availability of a cost effective production media, the growth and production kinetics data using a cheaply available nutrient sources as well as the biological thermodynamic data are some of the gaps in biopreservation bioprospecting. Although several yeasts have already been studied to have great inhibition properties against fruit fungal pathogens, it was still unclear what was the minimum inoculum dose to be able to have a fungistatic and fungicidal effect on the growth of fruit spoilage organisms. The concept of combination of biopreservatives and the interaction effect of their biopreservation activity against consortia of spoilage organisms has also been lacking. As an attempt to seek alternatives to the use of synthetic chemicals as preservatives or postharvest control agents, Candida pyralidae Y1117, Pichia kluyveri Y1125 and Pichia kluyveri Y1164 strains were assessed for antimicrobial activity against spoilage yeasts (Dekkera bruxellensis, Dekkera anomala, Zygosaccharomyces bailii) and spoilage fungi (Botrytis cinerea, Colletotrichum acutatum and Rhizopus stolonifer). As alternative to refined media, a cost effective approach was explored whereby the use of agro-waste, i.e. grape pomace extracts (GPE), as production medium for biopreservation compounds, was studied. Production kinetics using modified existing models, subsequent to optimization using response surface methodology (RSM) for biopreservation compounds production was studied for the three biocontrol yeasts using GPE broth as the fermentation medium. The evaluation of the interaction study between mixtures of crude biopreservatives against consortia of common spoilage organisms present in beverages was also conducted by producing the crude biopreservation compounds separately from yeasts and then formulating growth inhibition combinations (GICs); GIC 1 (Candida pyralidae Y1117 and Pichia kluyveri Y1125); GIC 2 (C. pyralidae Y1117 and P. kluyveri Y1164), GIC 3 (P. kluyveri Y1125 and Pichia kluyveri Y1164); GIC 4 (C. pyralidae, P. kluyveri Y1125 and P. kluyveri Y1164). The spoilage organism consortia combinations, i.e. SC1, D. anomala and D. bruxellensis; SC2 (D. anomala and Z. bailii); SC3 (D. bruxellensis and Z. bailii) and SC4 (D. anomala, D. bruxellensis and Z. bailii) were also prepared. This study also investigated the effect of varying inoculum dose (ID) of Candida pyralidae strain Y1117, Pichia kluyveri Y1125 and Pichia kluyveri Y1164 on the biocontrol of Botrytis cinerea by contaminating the headspace of the growth medium with a fungal plug subsequent to biotreatment with different initial inoculum dose of the respective biocontrol yeasts. Finally, grape pomace extracts was used as fermentation medium to study the biological thermodynamics of biopreservation compound production from the three biocontrol yeasts. The results obtained demonstrated some interesting results. The antagonistic properties of C. pyralidae and P. kluyveri were observed on cheap solidified medium (grape pomace extracts) as well as on fruits (grapes and apples). These yeasts produced extracellular volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that could be responsible for yeast and fungal growth inhibition. Twenty-five VOCs in the category of alcohols, organic acids and esters were identified by GC-MS. The results of the kinetic study showed that the highest volumetric zone of inhibition (VZI) was 1.24 L contaminated solidified media (CSM) per mL biopreservation compounds used (BCU) when Candida pyralidae Y1117 was inoculated in a pH 3-diluted GPE broth (150 g L−1) incubated at 25 °C for 24 h. Similar conditions were applied for Pichia kluyveri Y1125 and P. kluyveri Y1164, albeit under slightly elongated fermentation periods (up to 28 h), prior to the attainment of a maximum VZI of only 0.72 and 0.76 L CSM mL−1 ACU, respectively. The potential biopreservation compounds produced were identified to be isoamyl acetate, isoamyl alcohol, 2-phenyl ethylacetate and 2-phenyl ethanol. The growth inhibition interaction study showed a variation in growth inhibition proficiency depending on the spoilage organisms or the consortia of spoilage organisms being deactivated. It was then suggested that, a food environment contaminated with a consortium of spoilage organisms can be controlled by employing either the crude biopreservation compounds from individual yeast or those of the following yeast combinations, GIC1-4, which showed a better growth inhibition proficiency against SC1-3. The fungistatic and fungicidal effects on the fungal pathogen were dose dependent. The fungistatic characteristics against Botrytis cinerea were displayed after 7 days when 102-105 cells mL-1 of Candida pyralidae Y1117, Pichia kluyveri Y1125 and Pichia kluyveri Y1164 were independently used in-vitro and in-vivo. However, 106-108 cells mL-1 inoculum doses displayed fungicidal characteristics. Additionally, the fungicidal property of yeasts studied was also confirmed on table grape (in vivo studies) using closed jar method. The biological thermodynamic study showed that, dried biomass molecular weight of 28.9 g/C-mol, 29.163 g/C-mol, and 27.176 g/C-mol were obtained for Candida pyralidae strain Y1117, Pichia kluyveri Y1125 and Pichia kluyveri Y1164 respectively. The results obtained successfully established useful biological thermodynamic data applicable to the design of adequate biopreservatives production system from yeasts using cheaply available nutrients source.

Orientador: Roberto Lyra Villas Bôas / Banca: Sarita Leonel / Banca: Carlos Ruggiero / Banca : Ana Lúcia Borges / Banca: Victor Galan Saúco / Resumo: Objetivando avaliar os efeitos de doses de adubo orgânico na produção da bananeira 'Prata-Anã' durante cinco ciclos de produção, bem como estudar a liberação de nutrientes deste adubo aplicado ao solo e também a decomposição e liberação de nutrientes dos restos culturais, o presente trabalho foi conduzido na FCA/UNESP, em Botucatu-SP no período de novembro de 2002 a julho de 2007. A fonte de adubo orgânico foi mantida a mesma desde o primeiro ciclo, aplicando-se composto produzido a partir de serragem de madeira e esterco bovino, que constituíram os tratamentos (doses de composto orgânico): 0, 43, 86, 129 e 172 kg de composto por planta, o que correspondeu a 0; 98,5; 197,0; 290,5 e 394,0 g de K2O por planta, sendo estas doses calculadas de acordo com o teor de potássio presente no mesmo. No solo, a eficiência dos tratamentos foi avaliada mediante análises químicas de amostras de solo, enquanto que nas plantas avaliaram-se os teores de nutrientes presentes nas folhas, circunferência do pseudocaule, altura de inserção da inflorescência, número de folhas por planta, massa do cacho; número de frutos por cacho; número de pencas por cacho; peso da 2ª penca e número de frutos na 2ª penca. Também foram avaliados teores de nutrientes presentes em partes da plantas e a decomposição e liberação de nutrientes dos restos culturais. Para os frutos produzidos no 4º e 5º ciclos avaliaram-se a qualidade dos frutos por meio de análises físicas e químicas como textura, pH, acidez titulável, sólidos solúveis e amido da polpa. O delineamento experimental adotado foi em blocos casualizados, com cinco tratamentos, cinco repetições e duas plantas por parcela, sendo os dados submetidos à análise de variância e regressão. Diante das melhorias observadas no solo (manutenção do pH dentro de uma faixa adequada, elevação nos teores da matéria orgânica, do fósforo... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: Aiming to evaluate the effects of organic compost rates in the production of banana plants 'Prata-Anã' in a five production cycle, as well as the nutrient liberation of this compost in the soil, the decomposition and nutrient liberation of the cultural residue, this present work was carried out at FCA/UNESP dependences, in Botucatu-SP from November of 2002 to July of 2007. The organic compost was the same produced since de first cycle, where it was applied compost produced by wood residue and bovine manure, which constituted the treatments (organic compost rates): 0, 43, 86, 129 and 172 kg of compost per plant, which corresponds to 0; 98,5; 197,0; 290,5 and 394,0 g of K2O per plant. These compost rates were calculated based on the quantity of potassium contained in the compost. The effects of organic fertilization in the soil were evaluated by chemical soil analyses. The efficiency of the treatment in plant development and production were evaluated by the quantity of nutrient present in the leaves, pseudostem circumference, plant height, number of leaves per plant, bunch weight, number of fruits in the bunch, number of hands per bunch, 2nd hand weight and number of fruits in the 2nd hand. It was also evaluated the nutrient levels in parts of the banana plants, decomposition and nutrient liberation of the cultural residues. Fruit quality produced in the 4th and 5th cycles was evaluated by physical and chemical analyses such as firmness, pH, acidity, soluble solids and starch. The experiment was arranged in randomized blocks design, with 5 treatments, 5 replications and 2 plants per plot. The obtained data were submitted to variance analyses and to regression analyses. The observed improvements in the soil (maintenance of the pH inside of an adjusted band, and the rises observed in the organic matter, phosphorus and calcium levels, as well as the addition of bases, capacity... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Doutor

Le cacao et le café sont les produits agricoles les plus échangés dans le monde. Ils subissent de nombreuses transformations post-récolte au niveau des pays producteurs (tropicaux) avant d'être exportés. Les procédés de traitements post-récolte diffèrent d'un pays à l'autre voire d'un agriculteur à l'autre. La transformation technologique du cacao en fèves marchandes et des grains de café en café vert nécessite un processus primaire de manutention. Ces pratiques participent et influencent, en général, la qualité marchande et organoleptique des produits destinés à la transformation. Notre hypothèse de travail est que les différents procédés de transformation post-récolte appliqués sur le café et le cacao ont une influence sur la structure des communautés microbiennes. L'objectif principal était de pouvoir mesurer cet effet en réalisant l'analyse globale des communautés microbienne en utilisant un outil de biologie moléculaire, la PCR-DGGE (Amplification par PCR couplée à l'électrophorèse sur gel en gradient dénaturant). Cette technique a été associée au séquençage afin d'identifier les espèces microbiennes majoritaires. Cette étude a montré que les communautés microbiennes associées aux grains de café et aux fèves de cacao varient au cours des différentes étapes pour chaque type de traitement post-récolte appliqué.Notre approche a permis de discriminer les voies de traitements, et l'origine géographique du café Camerounais et Indonésien. Notamment, nous avons montré que l'origine géographique et l'espèce de café utilisée ont un impact sur l'écologie microbienne du café moins important par rapport à celui du procédé. L'application au cacao nous a permis de relier l'analyse globale de l'écologie microbienne (DGGE) à l'analyse des composés volatils (SPME-GC-MS) afin de discriminer les différents traitements post-récolte. Des micro-fermentations ont été réalisées avec des souches microbiennes isolées du cacao (L. fermentum, A. pasteurianus, P. kudriavzevii et P. mashurica) dans le but d‘identifier l'origine des composés volatils détectés sur le cacao fermenté. Notre étude a contribué à montrer que la fermentation combinée à une courte durée de stockage avant fermentation est le procédé qui permet d'obtenir des fèves contenant plus de composés aromatiques désirables sur le cacao. Une analyse statistique a permis de combiner les résultats des deux types d'analyses (écologie microbienne et composés aromatiques) et de créer des relations entre les espèces détectées et les composés volatils présents. Les profils aromatiques identifiés ont permis d'envisager l'utilisation des souches testées comme starters de culture pour la fermentation du cacao. / Cocoa and coffee are the most traded agricultural commodities in the world. They undergo many post-harvest transformations in producing countries (tropical) before being exported. Post-harvest processes differ from one country to another and from one production site to another. The technological transformation of cocoa on commercial beans and of coffee to green coffee requires a primary process handling. These practices play a crucial role in global and organoleptic quality of the products that will be processed. Our work hypothesis isthat different post-harvest processing applied to coffee and cocoa have an influence on the structure of microbial communities. The main objective was to measure this effect by performing a global analysis of microbial ecology using a molecular biology tool (PCR-DGGE, PCR amplification coupled to denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis). This technique allows variations in microbial communities to be detected and the main microbial species to be identified by sequencing.Our approach permitted to discriminate treatments, and the geographical origin of Cameroonian and Indonesian coffees. Notably, we showed that geographical origin and coffee species have a minor impact on the structure of the microbial communities when compared to the type of process used (wet or dry).By applying the approach to cocoa, we could link the global analysis of microbial ecology (PCR-DGGE) to the analysis of volatile compounds (SPME-GC-MS) to discriminate the different post-harvest treatments. Micro-fermentation were carried out with strains isolated from cocoa (L. fermentum, A. pasteurianus, P. kudriavzevii and P. mashurica) in order to identify the origin of the volatile compounds detected in the fermented cocoa. This study contributed to to show that fermentation combined with a short storage duration before fermentation is the best method to obtain cocoa beans with more desirable aromatic compounds. The statistical analysis was used to combine the results of the two types of analyzes (microbial ecology and aromatic compounds) and get relations between the detected microbial species and volatile compounds. The identified aromatic profiles prompted us to consider the use of the tested microbial strains as starter culture for cocoa fermentation.

<p>We followed up with about 2,000 smallholder households in Senegal, two years after these households participated in a randomized controlled trial (RCT) aimed at reducing levels of aflatoxins in smallholders’ stored maize. In the initial intervention, treated households were provided with training on proper post-harvest practices, low-cost moisture meters for testing if maize was sufficiently dry to store, plastic tarps for drying maize of the ground, and hermetic (airtight) storage bags to mitigate aflatoxin development in stored maize. Using cross-sectional follow up data on aflatoxins levels and drying and storage practices from 2019 along with baseline demographic data from 2016, we estimate both the longer-term intention-to-treat (ITT) effects and the treatment on the treated (TOT) effects that the four inputs provided on households’ aflatoxins levels in stored maize. The ITT analyses estimate the intervention’s average effect by treatment group, but this may underestimate the true impact for households who complied with recommended post-harvest practices and adopted the recommended technologies. The TOT analyses estimate the local average treatment effects (LATE) of the intervention, that is its impacts on those who were driven by the intervention to follow best practices or use a given technology. Since the decision to follow these practices or adopt a technology was not random, we instrumented the usage decision with the exogenous, random treatment group assignment to get an unbiased estimate. Outside of our main models, we conducted a heterogeneity analysis to test if households with different characteristics benefit differently from the intervention. We interacted each treatment assignment with various household characteristics, including the woman’s level of involvement in the intervention. Additionally, we estimate the cost-effectiveness of providing training and a tarp, according to WHO guidelines for public health interventions. </p>

The biochemical factors affecting post-harvest preservation in apples indicated that well-preserved varieties of apples had increased superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity initially and the activity declined during later storage as apples deteriorated. The SOD link to better preservation correlated with higher phenolic content and free-radical scavenging linked antioxidant activity. Well-preserved varieties were able to maintain a more stable pentose phosphate pathway (PPP) (measured by the activity of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase, G6PDH) throughout the storage period. Proline content increased in all varieties with an increase in proline dehydrogenase (PDH) activity in the initial period indicating proline catabolism supporting potential ATP synthesis. During later storage succinate dehydrogenase (SDH) activity increased while PDH activity declined indicating a shift to tricarboxylic acid cycle and likely NADH generation for ATP synthesis. This shift coupled with the declining SOD activity coincides with rapid deterioration. The guaiacol peroxidase activity (GPX) activity generally declined in late stages indicating post-harvest deterioration. Increasing number of studies have shown that regular intake of fruits and vegetables have clear links to reduced risk of chronic diseases like diabetes and cardiovascular disease. The beneficial effects in many cases have been attributed to the phenolic and antioxidant content of the fruits and vegetables. Apples are a major source of fiber and contain good dietary phenolics with antioxidant function. Previous epidemiological studies have indicated that intake of apples reduces the risk of developing Type II diabetes. Our studies indicate that this reduced risk is potentially due to modulation of postprandial glucose increase by phenolics present in apples via inhibition of a-glucosidase. Phenolic content was evaluated during 3 months of post-harvest storage of four varieties of apples and results indicated positive linkage to enhanced post-harvest preservation and a-glucosidase inhibition. These in vitro results along with existing epidemiological studies provide strong biochemical rationale for further animal or human clinical studies.