The Impact of Environmental Factors on the Quality of Horticultural Commodities

The Sustainable Development Goals popularised by the United Nations include achieving food security, improving nutrition, eliminating hunger and poverty, promoting sustainable agriculture, and ensuring healthy lifestyles [1]. Limited access to safe and nutrient-rich foods increases the risk of malnutrition and hunger, and it can even cause mental imbalances. Horticultural production, as a branch of agriculture, is placing increasing emphasis on the sustainable development and biological balance of ecosystems. Without losing sight of this overarching goal, measures are being taken to ensure that crops are highly productive, high-quality, and environmentally friendly. All stages of horticultural activities, including cultivation, agrotechnical activities, distribution, storage, and preparation for consumption, have a direct impact on the quality, safety, and sustainability of crops, as well as their effects on human health. So far, the main goals of horticultural activity have been to increase the volume of production and improve commercial quality. The change in approach is also due to the fact that the intensive use of chemicals in agriculture has a negative impact on the environment, biodiversity, natural resources, and human health [1]. Research currently focuses on friendly production systems in which cultivation methods and techniques are strongly based on environmental conditions.

Another element with an increasingly disruptive impact on the growing ecosystem is climate change, which can largely limit the cultivation of many horticultural species or at least necessitate measures to support plants through changes in agricultural technology, protection, fertilisation, and cultivation systems [2,3]. Currently, the cultivation systems used often do not tolerate or poorly tolerate large fluctuations in temperature, rainfall, solar radiation, and violent winds. This is compounded by the enormous pressure of pathogens, which, due to their short development period and high multiplication rate, adapt more quickly to changing conditions. Horticultural production, which is an intensive form of production, is therefore under very strong pressure from climate change. In this field, researchers are currently focusing on reducing the impact of climate change through adapting plant cultivars or even introducing new species, making changes and improvements to the cultivation technologies used [4,5], enhancing protection, and introducing new ways of storing and processing horticultural products. Natural substances are increasingly being used to biostimulate transformations in plants and promote greater accumulation of health-promoting substances [6,7].

The popularisation of organic farming and agroecological approaches is conducive to reducing environmental changes [8]. This reduces dependence on chemicals in production and the harmful effects of chemical products on humans, animals, and the environment. Assessing the sensitivity or tolerance of plants to harmful substances found in the soil or air due to human activity is also a research topic that facilitates sustainable development [9]. Such a change in approach is also expected by consumers. Desirable methods include the breeding and selection of varieties with increased resistance to adverse factors, as well as activities that support the preservation of biodiversity, including the improvement of soil fertility with the use of natural resources and biofertilizers [10,11,12] and the stimulation of biological processes in the rhizosphere through crop rotation and organic [13,14] and living mulching [15,16]. With the aim of maintaining biodiversity and pro-environmental activities, natural biological preparations are being increasingly used for plant protection and controlled plant nutrition is being used in fertilisation. Research is also focusing on developing strategies to monitor pests and diseases, which minimises excessive pesticide use. Additionally, innovations in integrated technology increase environmental safety and balance horticultural production. Newly introduced species are of particular interest to breeders. Self-pollinating cultivars are sought after in order to obtain high yields with high-quality fruit [17]. One of the most important features of new cultivars is their qualitative assessment and storability [18]. For the storage of horticultural products, in order to maintain high quality, a controlled atmosphere (KA) in cold stores is increasingly used. Modified Atmosphere Packaging (MAP) is also used to store products, along with additional substances to delay ripening [19,20].

Monitoring and adapting to changes are also possible through the use of increasingly sophisticated risk assessment methods, growth rate assessment, and monitoring the types of changes in a plant [5,12,21]. Factors affecting the accumulation and stability of health-promoting substances in fruits and vegetables, as well as edible flowers, have been studied [22,23]. Mathematical patterns are increasingly being developed to assess growth rates and simulate possible processes or plant behaviour, increasingly supported by the use of artificial intelligence [21].

Like other food products, horticultural products offered to consumers should be high-quality and, above all, safe for consumption. Each stage from farm to fork must be subject to procedures that ensure that the relevant quality requirements are met. Fruit, vegetables, edible flowers, and other horticultural goods must meet the highest quality standards, which, according to the literature, comprise sensory quality, health-promoting properties, and their availability, as well as symbolic quality.

Horticultural production is one of the fastest changing branches of agriculture. Regardless of where it is conducted, new challenges are being faced. The main factors necessitating changes, apart from environmental considerations, are the growing requirements of consumers, who not only expect an aesthetically appealing product but also high nutritional value, an abundance of health-promoting substances, and environmentally friendly production methods. Due to the complexity of this problem, the following question arises: how can results be achieved that satisfy the producer, the consumer, and the trade? The papers published in this Special Issue attempt to address some relevant questions by modifying cultivation technology and horticultural product handling procedures at every stage, from production to their preparation for sale and consumption, ensuring that the growing demands of consumers are met to the greatest extent possible.