Advanced Sustainable Practices in Horticultural Crops Postharvest Treatment and Processing

Dear Colleagues,

Fruits and vegetables are highly perishable and require specific care to reduce deterioration. Postharvest losses can reach up to 40% of production, depending on the cultivars, making sustainable best practices essential to significantly reduce these losses. Key factors include controlling storage temperature (above the critical threshold), maintaining high relative humidity, minimizing handling, and using preservation technologies. In this context, biotechnological techniques are developing methods to extend the freshness and shelf life of horticultural products. These include the use of low temperatures to reduce metabolic activity and delay ripening; controlled or modified atmospheres combined with environmentally friendly packaging (biodegradable or compostable materials) to regulate respiration rate; bioactive packaging that incorporates substances to trap or release compounds of interest; nanotechnology; and edible coatings that allow for the incorporation of natural agents derived from plants or fruits (peels, pulp, or seeds). The use of beneficial microorganisms (biological control) to prevent microbial growth reduces the need for chemical fungicides while providing antimicrobial or antioxidant effects. This Special Issue welcomes manuscripts aiming to share any knowledge on environmentally friendly technologies applied in horticulture to extend shelf life. 

Postharvest strategies for managing fruits and vegetables focus on maintaining product quality for longer, reducing losses and environmental impact, and maximizing the use of available resources. Technologies used for many years to preserve horticultural products include controlled atmosphere storage, refrigeration, and chemical compounds that extend shelf life without compromising quality. However, in recent years, there has been a shift toward using natural-origin products to reduce environmental impact and ensure consumer health. Additionally, research on processing technologies is now focused on reducing energy and water consumption and using agriculture or aquaculture by-products to decrease waste. In this context, biodegradable films, coatings, and bioactive compounds, such as plant extracts or essential oils, help reduce plastic waste in industries. These strategies reduce economic losses, making horticultural production more profitable.  

Prof. Dr. Vega-García Misael Odín
Dr. Martha Edith López-López
Dr. Lidia Elena Ayón-Reyna
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. Horticulturae is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly 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 2200 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.

• postharvest biotechnology
• controlled atmospheres
• food nanotechnology
• edible coatings
• horticultural sustainability