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Applied Sciences
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Innovative Engineering Technologies for the Agri-Food Sector
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Innovative Engineering Technologies for the Agri-Food Sector

A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Food Science and Technology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 June 2025 | Viewed by 2311

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Alessandro Leone

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Soil, Plant and Food Science (DISSPA), University of Bari Aldo Moro, Via Amendola 165/a, 70126 Bari, Italy
Interests: food plant; remote sensing; robotic
Prof. Dr. Antonia Tamborrino

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Soil, Plant and Food Science (DISSPA), University of Bari Aldo Moro, Via Amendola 165/a, 70126 Bari, Italy
Interests: pre- and post-harvest processing; yield monitoring; energy consumption monitoring; food plant
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Antonio Berardi

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Soil, Plant and Food Science (DISSPA), University of Bari Aldo Moro, Via Amendola 165/a, 70126 Bari, Italy
Interests: pulsed electric field; microwaves; ultrasound; smart agricultural

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The agri-food sector requires innovative processing, which is the goal of continuous research studies in order to make this sector competitive and sustainable from both an economic and environmental point of view, as well as being in accordance with global policies.

This Special Issue welcomes scientists to share their experimental and theoretical research, alongside comprehensive schematics, source codes, and mechanical design models. This facilitates the swift and widespread dissemination of cutting-edge technologies emerging in agricultural, environmental, food processing, and industrial plant sectors for food production.

Among the main objectives of the articles are the following:

  • The innovative and sustainable production of agricultural products, including smart farming, remote sensing, automation and robotics in agriculture, innovative farming techniques;
  • The innovative and sustainable management of post-harvest agricultural products;
  • Innovative and sustainable processes for food production;
  • Food preservation with sustainable and innovative processes, including pest management;
  • Valorisation of process waste for the production of new products or for energy production;
  • New agricultural and food production processes with the aim of reducing energy and water consumption.

Prof. Dr. Alessandro Leone
Prof. Dr. Antonia Tamborrino
Dr. Antonio Berardi
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Applied Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • competitive and sustainable technology
  • innovative food process
  • environmental sustainability
  • agri-food products
  • smart farming
  • remote sensing
  • automation and robotics in agriculture
  • pre- and post-harvest processing
  • pest management
  • waste product valorization
  • physical and biological processes
  • food safety
  • food quality
  • circular economy
  • renewable energy

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (2 papers)

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16 pages, 11761 KiB  
Article
Non-Destructive Early Detection of Drosophila Suzukii Infestation in Sweet Cherries (c.v. Sweet Heart) Based on Innovative Management of Spectrophotometric Multilinear Correlation Models
by Giuseppe Altieri, Mahdi Rashvand Avaei, Attilio Matera, Francesco Genovese, Vincenzo Verrastro, Naouel Admane, Orkhan Mammadov, Sabina Laveglia and Giovanni Carlo Di Renzo
Appl. Sci. 2025, 15(1), 197; https://doi.org/10.3390/app15010197 - 29 Dec 2024
Viewed by 789
Abstract
Drosophila suzukii (Matsumura), also known as spotted wing drosophila (SWD), is invasive, with a preference for infesting commercially viable soft berries, particularly cherries. SWD infestations in sweet cherries are difficult to detect and remove in the field, packing houses, and processing lines, causing [...] Read more.
Drosophila suzukii (Matsumura), also known as spotted wing drosophila (SWD), is invasive, with a preference for infesting commercially viable soft berries, particularly cherries. SWD infestations in sweet cherries are difficult to detect and remove in the field, packing houses, and processing lines, causing significant economic losses and reducing yields significantly, necessitating early detection of insect infestation in fruits during primary decaying stages. Few publications have addressed the use of non-destructive techniques for the detection of insect infestation in cherries. Based on the advantages and effectiveness of the spectrophotometric techniques, an attempt was made to use the spectrophotometry to rapidly detect postharvest SWD infestations of intact sweet cherry fruit, to employ it in sweet cherry fruit selection and grading processes. The main purpose of this study was to apply spectrophotometry as a rapid and non-destructive method in detecting and classifying healthy sweet cherry fruit versus that infested with SWD eggs. To model the data fit/prediction, principal components regression and partial least squares regression algorithms were considered. The external cross-validation set was initially set to 20% of the overall available samples and subsequently increased to 50% in the final selected optimal model. The identified procedure of management of regression algorithms allowed the selection of a very performant and robust model using the partial least squares regression algorithm: its false negative rate and false positive rate, after 500 Monte Carlo runs, were 0.004% +/− 0.003 and 0.02% +/− 0.01, respectively, and, in addition, the 50% of samples were used for the external cross-validation set. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovative Engineering Technologies for the Agri-Food Sector)
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10 pages, 826 KiB  
Article
Data Mining for the Characterization of a Paper Prototype Obtained with Bacterial Cellulose Derived from Banana and Pineapple By-Products
by Juan Diego Valenzuela-Cobos, Simón Pérez-Martínez, Manuel Fiallos-Cárdenas and Fabricio Guevara-Viejó
Appl. Sci. 2024, 14(23), 11426; https://doi.org/10.3390/app142311426 - 9 Dec 2024
Viewed by 931
Abstract
The primary objective of this research is to evaluate the feasibility of two of the most prevalent agricultural residues in Ecuador, banana peels and pineapple peels, as a carbon source in the culture medium of Komagataeibacter hansenii for the production of bacterial cellulose [...] Read more.
The primary objective of this research is to evaluate the feasibility of two of the most prevalent agricultural residues in Ecuador, banana peels and pineapple peels, as a carbon source in the culture medium of Komagataeibacter hansenii for the production of bacterial cellulose (BC) and BC-based paper. This analysis includes an assessment of the productivity parameters of the obtained BC and the quality parameters of the BC-based paper, employing multivariate statistical methodologies. The experimental design consisted of fifteen treatments: T1 served as the control using the standard HS medium, while treatments T2–T8 used banana peel extracts (BPE), and treatments T9–T15 used pineapple peel extracts (PPE) at concentrations from 10% to 40% (v/v). Extracts were prepared with tailored pretreatments for each type of peel to optimize bioactive compound recovery. Standardized fermentation and purification conditions were applied, and once the cellulose was obtained, additives and coating agents were incorporated to produce paper samples from each treatment. The results indicated that higher BPE concentrations (T5, T6, T7, and T8) correlated significantly with increased Weight and Yield of BC, as well as improved grammage and water content in the BC-based paper. This highlights that efficient paper production is influenced by the quality of the bacterial cellulose used, with BPE-based media yielding optimal results due to their nutrient composition, which promotes bacterial growth and metabolic activity. This approach suggests a pathway for advancing sustainable and economical paper production. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovative Engineering Technologies for the Agri-Food Sector)
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