Sustainable Horticultural Waste Management

A special issue of Horticulturae (ISSN 2311-7524).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 January 2024) | Viewed by 5822

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Lithuanian Research Centre for Agriculture and Forestry, Instituto al. 1, Akademija, LT-58344 Kedainiai, Lithuania
Interests: agrochemistry; waste utilization; cycle economy

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute of Horticulture, Lithuanian Research Centre for Agriculture and Forestry, Kauno Str. 30, LT-54333 Kaunas, Lithuania
Interests: nitrogen; fruit quality; foliar fertilizer

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The steady increase in horticultural waste due to the ever-increasing fruit consumption among the growing world population poses a challenge to sustainable waste management. Millions of tons of biodegradable waste decompose every day and harm the environment: air, surface water and soil. On the other hand, turning this waste into raw material for food, animal feed, fertilizer, soil improvement materials and biofuel production would bring great benefits to the world society.

I invite scholars from various fields to submit their research to this Special Issue titled “Sustainable Horticultural Waste Management”.

This is a great opportunity to contribute to the solution of current problems by publishing your work in one of the most read and most cited journals in the field.

Suggested topics:

  • Reducing waste generation in horticulture;
  • Study of horticultural waste composition and nature;
  • Search for different ways of using waste;
  • Possibilities of composting biodegradable waste and improving garden soil;
  • Possibilities of producing various feeds and nutritional supplements for animal feed from fruit processing waste;
  • Production of biopolymers, biological coloring substances from fruit processing residues;
  • Possibilities of turning garden waste into biofuel or raw material for biogas production;
  • Composting and processing of various biodegradable wastes into fertilizing products.

Dr. Romas Mažeika
Dr. Juozas Lanauskas
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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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.

Keywords

  • horticultural waste
  • waste management
  • waste content
  • sustainability
  • composting
  • reuse of waste
  • use of waste as raw materials

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

12 pages, 3425 KiB  
Article
Recycled Waste Leaf Litter Pots Exhibit Excellent Biodegradability: An Experimental Analysis
by Daegeun Ko, Haegeun Chung, Jongbae Park, Hyungwoo Kim, Eunseo Kang, Songhee Lee and Tae Kyung Yoon
Horticulturae 2023, 9(9), 987; https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae9090987 - 1 Sep 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 3037
Abstract
The growth of the gardening kit market could result in the increased wasting of nursery pots, which are usually made of plastic. Replacing these pots with biodegradable pots made from green waste could have benefits for climate mitigation, the circular economy, and the [...] Read more.
The growth of the gardening kit market could result in the increased wasting of nursery pots, which are usually made of plastic. Replacing these pots with biodegradable pots made from green waste could have benefits for climate mitigation, the circular economy, and the greenness of gardening. To address this, we introduce a prototype recycled waste leaf litter (RWLL) nursery pot. Via an incubation experiment over 90 d, we examined their biodegradability and effects on microbial enzyme activity and inorganic nitrogen concentration, comparing them with commercially available biodegradable pots, namely peat–paper mixture pots (also known as Jiffypots®) and coco-coir pots. The effects of pot thickness were tested. Based on mass loss during incubation and on soil CO2 efflux, the RWLL pots exhibited excellent biodegradability, regardless of their thickness, with decomposition rates and soil CO2 efflux 1.5–6 times greater than other biodegradable pots. Biodegradability, extracellular enzyme activity, and soil inorganic nitrogen content were not affected by RWLL pot thickness or by the presence or absence of a plant in the soil. Unlike in natural ecosystems, leaf litter is treated as waste in urban green spaces, and its decomposition into soil organic matter is prevented. Creating plant pots from leaf litter enhances soil quality, reduces atmospheric carbon emissions, and satisfies the desire of gardeners for greenness. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Horticultural Waste Management)
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11 pages, 9078 KiB  
Article
Effect of Drying Temperature on the Physicochemical, Functional, and Microstructural Properties of Powders from Agave angustifolia Haw and Agave rhodacantha Trel
by Francisco Erik González-Jiménez, José Eduardo Barojas-Zavaleta, Guadalupe Vivar-Vera, Audry Peredo-Lovillo, Alfredo Alberto Morales-Tapia, Josué Antonio Del Ángel-Zumaya, Mónica Reyes-Reyes, Liliana Alamilla-Beltrán, Diana Elizabeth Leyva-Daniel and Jaime Jiménez-Guzmán
Horticulturae 2022, 8(11), 1070; https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae8111070 - 14 Nov 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1841
Abstract
The present study evaluated the effect of convective drying on the physicochemical, functional, and microstructural properties of the powders of leaves of Agave angustifolia Haw (agave espadin) and Agave rhodacantha Trel (agave mexicano) at temperatures of 70, 90, and 110 °C. The leaves [...] Read more.
The present study evaluated the effect of convective drying on the physicochemical, functional, and microstructural properties of the powders of leaves of Agave angustifolia Haw (agave espadin) and Agave rhodacantha Trel (agave mexicano) at temperatures of 70, 90, and 110 °C. The leaves correspond to the agro-industrial waste generated by the mezcal industry. The results indicate that convective drying at a temperature of 110 °C induces the greatest microstructural modification of the powders and improves their functional properties compared to thermal treatments at 70 and 90 °C. The obtained powders in the present investigation show important contents of dietary fiber in a range of 45.53 ± 0.07 to 55.31 ± 1.60 g/100 g. According to the results of physicochemical analysis, the obtained powders show high storage stability, pointing out that the employment of convective drying in the processing of agave leaves at high temperatures is an emerging tool for the obtention of waste-derived powders with high impact in the development of future functional foods, while contributing to the mitigation of the environmental impact of the mezcal industry. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Horticultural Waste Management)
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