Special Issue "New Perspectives for a More Sustainable Agriculture: From Plant Treatments to Postharvest Technologies"

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Agriculture".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 March 2022.

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Giuseppe Mannino
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Turin, Turin, Piedmont, Italy
Interests: agriculture and biological sciences; biochemistry; molecular biology; analytical chemistry; phytochemistry; plant science; food science; biostimulants; dietary supplements; food waste; circular economy

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In the last decades, the world population is constantly increasing, and it is estimated to reach 10.6 billion in 2050. To date, considering also climate changes, feeding the current world population is a hard challenge, that is expected become more pronounced if new solutions will not be applied. However, the realization of this purpose has come at the expense of nature, following in serious environmental problems. Moreover, in the last decades, together with the global aspects, also the consumers’ interest for high quality foods is constantly growing. Food safety is a primary concern for the vast majority of people, and in particular consumers are worried about chemical hazards, especially for those perceived to be invisible, having long term effects or serious health implications. For these reasons, in parallel to consumer awareness toward the benefits related to intake of foods with high nutritional and nutraceutical properties, also the preference for organic foods that are grown, harvested and preserved in eco-sustainable way is rising.

In order to satisfy both agronomic and consumer needs, sustainable agriculture should be a valid alternative to conventional techniques, providing enough food for all, while reducing wastes and environmental or health risks, and allowing the production of high quality foods. To this purpose, various strategies are currently employed, including the use of more eco-sustainable products in agriculture practices, the application of new technologies for cultivation and postharvest, and the use of biostimulants or sustainable chemicals, including fertilizers, insecticides and herbicides.

This Special Issue focuses to publish both originals articles and reviews about sustainable applications in agriculture. Papers dealing with the application of novel products (i.e. pure compounds, natural extracts and food/industrial wastes) working as biostimulants, fertilizers, insecticides or herbicides, and aimed to increase plant well-being, plant resilience to stress conditions, production yield and crop/fruit quality are welcome in this Special Issue. Moreover, the use of postharvest technologies aimed at extending the shelf life of fresh fruits and vegetables, and/or to preserve their nutritional and nutraceutical quality over time, are equally accepted.

Dr. Giuseppe Mannino
Guest Editor

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 papers will be 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. Sustainability 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 1900 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

  • biostimulants
  • postharvest technologies
  • plant productivity
  • fruit quality
  • crop quality
  • resilience to abiotic and biotic stresses
  • sustainable fertilizers
  • sustainable insecticides
  • sustainable herbicides
  • food waste reutilization

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

Article
Evaluation of Allelopathic Potentials from Medicinal Plant Species in Phnom Kulen National Park, Cambodia by the Sandwich Method
Sustainability 2021, 13(1), 264; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13010264 - 30 Dec 2020
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 660
Abstract
Phnom Kulen National Park, in north-western Cambodia, has huge richness in biodiversity and medicinal value. One hundred and ninety-five (195) medicinal plant species were collected from the national park to examine allelopathic potentials by using the sandwich method, a specific bioassay for the [...] Read more.
Phnom Kulen National Park, in north-western Cambodia, has huge richness in biodiversity and medicinal value. One hundred and ninety-five (195) medicinal plant species were collected from the national park to examine allelopathic potentials by using the sandwich method, a specific bioassay for the evaluation of leachates from plants. The study found 58 out of 195 medicinal plant species showed significant inhibitory effects on lettuce radicle elongation as evaluated by standard deviation variance based on the normal distribution. Three species including Iris pallida (4% of control), Parabarium micranthum (7.5% of control), and Peliosanthes teta (8.2% of control) showed strong inhibition of lettuce radicle elongation less than 10% of the control. The results presented could present as a benchmark for isolation and identification of allelochemicals among medicinal plants used in Cambodia. Full article
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