Prologue:

Greetings, I am Vanessa, a student majoring in Food Technology and Agricultural Products. Currently in an eager state to research how to achieve food sovereignty, especially in developing countries. With many journals I read and lectures I received, I seem to know and get a grasp of alternative food applications that can hopefully solve the problem. Before I get to the writing, I envision ourselves in a world where wanting to get food is not financially charged. So everyone with financial issues can fulfill their nutrition needs and daily intake.

When it comes to food, in our head, it is made from raw materials (farm, ranch, garden, etc.) that have to be processed to be appropriately consumed as it is to help the digestion and absorption of macronutrients and micronutrients better. What seems to be the problem here? Well, raw materials are perishable and need treatment to prolong shelf life. What would happen if we did not do the treatment? The issue of food loss and food waste can arise, hence can disrupt the balance between humans and food. With many stacks of piling wasted materials, carbon emission can take effect because incineration and solid waste contribute to carbon gas. Therefore the greenhouse effect will initiate. To breakdown into solving this chained problem, many methods can be used like applying:

 

1. Modified atmosphere packaging

It is defined as a packaging system that involves the alteration of the gaseous atmosphere surrounding a food product inside a pack and utilizing packaging materials and formats with an appropriate level of gas barrier to maintain the changed atmosphere at an acceptable level for the preservation of the food. With wide varieties of food materials, gasses' compositions are also different. The density of gasses depends on their pressure and temperature. Oxygen produces lipid oxidation reactions. It also causes high respiration rates in fruit and vegetables. Increased respiration rates are to blame for shortened shelf life. The presence of oxygen encourages the growth of aerobic spoilage. The potential formation of other unwanted microorganisms may also occur. The Modified Atmosphere Packaging process lowers the volume of oxygen contained within the space of the packaging containing the product. It can also prevent the formation of water vapor. The oxygen inside of the package is often replaced with other gasses. Modified packaging gas mixtures usually consist of normal atmospheric gasses such as carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrogen (N2), and oxygen (O2). Microbial growth can also inhibit microbial growth to a certain extent with the help of other gasses such as nitrous oxide (N2O), argon (Ar), and hydrogen (H2). These gasses can be applied individually or mixed according to specific ratios. CO2, for instance, is most effective in inhibiting microorganisms (such as mold and other common aerobic bacteria). It does this by dissolving into the food’s liquid and fat phase, thereby reducing its pH value. It also penetrates biological membranes, causing changes in permeability and function. This packaging can prolong the shelf life of food, so it prevents food loss & waste. When it is time for the crop to decay finally, the modified atmosphere inside the packaging can help to delay the metabolism so that decaying is not happening immediately.

 

2. Microorganism usage against contaminant with control technology

First of all, we have to acknowledge the definition of contaminants. According to Codex Alimentarius, 1995, contaminants are substances that have not been intentionally added to food. Food production processes can lead to substances entering the food anytime: during manufacturing, handling, storage, processing, or distribution. Contaminants can also enter the food from the environment. The presence of such substances in food must be monitored carefully to avoid contamination affecting the quality of the food, making the food unsafe. Some toxin-producing microorganisms, such as aflatoxigenic fungi, usually produce aflatoxin that can lessen food quality (especially corn). So to achieve food safety and sovereignty in the future, an approach can be made by applying microorganisms’ good potential to eliminate contaminants. With the combination of Smart Farming, water activity and relative humidity can be controlled by storing the raw material in a tank that supervises the quality of the product. From farm to factory, raw materials, especially seeds, can be maintained during post-harvesting. Farmers can mitigate mycotoxin emergence with sound moisture control practices in the initial step. PerkinElmer’s AM 5200 Grain Moisture Meter measures moisture in 10 seconds with the push of a button, allowing farmers to optimize grain drying and storage. Field-use screening with AuroFlow LF Kits and simple-to-use Test strips help elevators keep mycotoxins out. In times of high incidence, samples are sent to dedicated grain labs that test via test strips and high throughput ELISA (Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay) tests. The grain processors using MaxSignal HTS keep mycotoxins out of production by screening. As mycotoxins are thermally stable, they are not destroyed during processing and, in some instances, can be concentrated. Final & co-products and pet food can be rapidly and accurately tested with PerkinElmer’s automated, high-throughput ELISA tests. This device can also keep the toxin out of processed food and has an ISO certificate, which has proven efficient. Returning to using yeast and fungi as biocontrol agents, Saccharomyces cerevisiae can significantly degrade DON (Deoxynivalenol), which E.graminearum and F.culmorum produce. This typical fungus is usually found in wheat commodities. Kluyveromyces marxianus can be helpful in binding AFB1, OTA, and ZEN (zearalenone). Candida utilis can be applied in mycotoxins binding; Yarrowia lipolytica effectively reduces OTA (Ochratoxin A) concentrations. Moreover, fungi such as Aspergillus, Rhizopus, Trichoderma, Clonostachys, and Penicillium spp. are proven to be successful in detoxifying mycotoxins. Moving on to the beneficial bacteria, the application of probiotic strains (capable of reducing/binding the aflatoxins in milk) as a starter culture to produce safer fermented milk. The development of Lactic Acid Bacteria (LAB) can be seen in the diagram below:

    

Starter culture - Fermented food (dairy products, vegetables, meat, etc)

Food biopreservatives Nisin Bacteriocin Biomass of LAB

Lactic Acid Bacteria

Bacteriocin producer as probiotics

Bacteriocin producer as starter cultures

Probiotic Functional foods Dairy products Probiotic fruit based drink Confectionary Etc

Fermented food as probiotic agent

 

 

Lactic acid bacteria consist of the family of Lactobacillus, Streptococcus, Lactococcus, Leuconostoc, and Pediococcus. For more information, LAB against Bacterial Toxins and their producers: LAB against Toxigenic Escherichia coli, Listeria Monocytogenes, preventing the growth and toxin production by Clostridium botulinum and other pathogenic bacteria. LAB can also detoxify mycotoxin of Aflatoxin (AFB1), Ochratoxin A (OTA), Deoxynivalenol (DON), Fumonisins, and Zearalenone (ZEA). Not only that, LAB can reduce pesticide levels in food, encounter heavy metals intoxication, and detoxification in food from natural antinutrients.   

 

3. Metabolomics application to prevent food loss

Regarding the issue of significant crop loss, metabolomics can investigate the cause of disease, aid systematic, effective postharvest management, and can improve quality. For example, if pathogen bacteria infect a plant, we can determine what changes after infection or what factor changes the metabolism of the host plant. We can prevent the disease from going further, even before the symptoms come up and before it contacts other plants. For example, chitosan treatment in bananas can delay the progression of ethylene (chitosan inhibits ethylene synthesis). Another way we can delay banana ripening is to store it in a low-temperature chamber. With the analysis of metabolites, it turns out that low temperature is affecting some metabolites that are related to hypoxia (which is a condition of lack of oxygen) which means the respiration rate is decreased, thus making the inhibiting action of ethylene happen.

With metabolomics, we can investigate that low temperature can help to detain the increasing amount of fructose, glucuronate, galactose, galacturonic acid, and rhamnose (basically sugars or polysaccharides that can soften and change the color of the peel).

A few decades ago, plant phenotyping tasks were considered particularly taxing, requiring laborious human interventions from germinating seeds and monitoring plant growth to measuring final yield [25]. Through recent advancements in sensing technologies, automation, machine learning, and artificial intelligence approaches, plant phenotyping has become fully automated, requiring minimal human intervention. Automated phenotyping is now a widely desired approach for whole-plant analysis. It can be performed both in the uncontrolled environment of the open field using, for example, aerial imaging or automatic robotic vehicles, as well as under greenhouse-controlled conditions using fully automated HTP setups. Automated phenotyping primarily aims to track the physicochemical changes throughout growth as plants interact with their environment. Although open-field phenotyping is widely executed for assessing plant performance under proper crop conditions, often beforehand, significant time will have been spent using greenhouse-based systems and controlled environments. By exploiting greenhouse-based conclusions, thousands of genotypes can be narrowed down by preselection, yielding only a small number to be carried forward to field trials. Greenhouse and open field trials are thus components of a complementary process.

 

4. Futuristic innovation: 3D food printing

As the world goes by, practical and effective activity tends to be favoured. One of the examples is creating food grade and safe dishes using a 3D printer. The term 3D printing is defined as fabrication of objects through the deposition of a material using a print head, nozzle, or another printer technology, however, it is often used synonymously with additive manufacturing (SFS-ISO/ASTM 52900:2016; Wohlers, 2014). Food structure with a high surface-to-volume ratio can be obtained by three-dimensional (3D) printing. 3D printing holds the promise to make food with designed complex geometries and internal structures, controlled composition and customized nutritional contents (Godoi, Prakash, & Bhandari, 2016; Liu, Bhandari, Prakash, & Zhang, 2018; Sun, Zhou, Yan, Huang, & Lin, 2018). The 3D printing method is fused deposition modelling (FDM), which is suitable for printing of materials such as viscous slurries, pastes and doughs (Schutyser, Houlder, De Wit, Buijsse, & Alting, 2017; Yang, Zhang, Prakash, & Liu, 2018). Many advantages with 3D food printing can be seen for example: astronauts’ food from powder (mixed with viscous) can be transformed into slurry and printed layer by layer to mimic manual made food.

 

5. Nutritious vending machine

Foods in vending machines are often found to be unhealthy because of the high total fat, saturated fat, and sodium exceeding the usual. In the future, we must remodel the food component so that functional food can also be healthy. Technologies involved inside the vending machine can create a suitable environment to prevent damage to nutritious food. Adequate preservatives and convenient packaging can achieve a highly nutritional fast meal. To prevent microbes and prolong shelf life, water activity value can be reduced with several treatments, such as heating, freeze-drying, drying, and smoking. Especially when canned food is about to be stored in a vending machine,  Clostridium strain bacteria can grow with an interval of minimum Aw at 0.94 - 0.97. Therefore optimal sterilization with high temperature must be done for about 4 minutes to eliminate the 12-log cycle of bacteria.So with the cycle system that I envisioned, from fresh material to canned products (for example, strawberry cheesecake), using an automatic robot arm to arrange the batter and frosting, then when the cake is already baked, using the aseptic method as well, the next step is to put/store the cake into the can, seal the top with high pressured steam to remove the headspace and then, the cans are stored in the heating chamber for sterilization for four minutes. After that, the sterilized cans can be transferred to the display of the vending machine. Lastly, customers can choose whatever cake they want to eat without ever having to make a cake from scratch. This brings to clarify my primary point of a sensible and healthy diet.

 

Conclusion:

Food and technology are both things that we can’t live without. In reality, we still need to consume food to keep us alive, and also technology implementation is continually being developed to keep helping us with basically everything. But in this particular field, combining technology and food-related industry is essential to maintain a healthy diet, food security, and food sovereignty. Also, with the cooperation of technologies and biological knowledge, food loss & waste can be prevented, along with the reducing of gas emission. With the few instances I’ve explained above, I hope we can get the food and technology lined up as soon as possible. Of course, with several risks, such as funding problems, limited human resources, and futuristic technology acceptance, I will still have faith in the government to make this happen.

 

List of source used:

Fellows, P. (2017). Properties of food and principles of processing. Food Processing Technology, 3–200.

Hall, R. D., D’Auria, J. C., Silva Ferreira, A. C., Gibon, Y., Kruszka, D., Mishra, P., & van de Zedde, R. (2022). High-throughput plant phenotyping: a role for metabolomics? Trends in Plant Science, 27(6), 549–563.

Lille, M., Nurmela, A., Nordlund, E., Metsä-Kortelainen, S., & Sozer, N. (2018). Applicability of protein and fiber-rich food materials in extrusion-based 3D printing. Journal of Food Engineering, 220, 20–27.

Zhang, L., Lou, Y., & Schutyser, M. A. (2018). 3D printing of cereal-based food structures containing probiotics. Food Structure, 18, 14–22.

Raposo, A., Carrascosa, C., Perez, E., Tavares, A., Sanjuan, E., Saavedra, P., & Millan, R. (2016). VENDING MACHINE FOODS:EVALUATION OF NUTRITIONAL COMPOSITION. Ital. J. Food Sci., 28, 448–463.