Search Results (2,520)

This study examines how Ukrainian enterprises of different size classes adapted their trade activity under the compounded shocks of COVID-19 and the full-scale war. The article addresses national economic resilience and sustainable recovery by examining how export and import dynamics changed among micro-, small-, medium-, and large-sized firms during 2015–2023. The methodology combines the logarithmic decomposition of intensive and extensive trade margins with a strategic positioning matrix based on labour productivity and the net-export coefficient. The results reveal marked size-based differences in aggregate trade-adaptation patterns. During the pandemic, microbusinesses shifted toward a quantity-led compensatory pattern, whereas during the war, medium-sized and large enterprises showed a stronger efficiency-led export pattern. Micro- and small firms displayed characteristics associated with technology-oriented adaptation, combining rapid labour productivity growth with negative trade balances, whereas large enterprises were positioned closer to the niche-exporter profile, supporting the balance of payments but showing signs of slower productivity growth. Medium-sized firms occupied a transformation zone, indicating unresolved adjustment pressure and continued dependence on trade restructuring. These findings suggest that enterprise-size heterogeneity can serve as an analytical basis for differentiated recovery policy. The results are relevant for trade-dependent sectors, including agri-food and food-processing systems, where recovery depends on technological upgrading, export capacity building, and the more effective conversion of imports into future export potential. Full article

Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) is a major annual legume crop with a balanced nutritional profile and a broad spectrum of bioactive constituents; these characteristics have made it a useful ingredient in health-oriented food applications. Chickpea supplies protein that is readily absorbed and digested, along with isoflavones and other bioactive plant compounds that act on physiological pathways associated with chronic disease prevention. Nonetheless, the combined pressures of drought, heat, cold, and salinity persistently limit its yield potential and cultivation stability. This review integrates the most recent progress in chickpea research, with emphasis on its intrinsic value derived from macronutrients, micronutrients, and bioactive metabolites. It further synthesizes the physiological determinants and metabolic reprogramming mechanisms underlying abiotic stress tolerance, outlines precision breeding strategies for developing resilient and high-quality ideotypes, and examines pathways for the high-value utilization of chickpea-derived processing by-products. Future efforts should focus on developing stress-resilient cultivars and expanding chickpea’s application in functional food innovation. Full article

In a large agrarian country with numerous smallholders, a key issue in food security governance is determining how to overcome the constraints of fragmented smallholder farming through productive service provision and thereby expand the scale of grain production. This study focuses on the pilot policy of whole-process socialized agricultural production services implemented during 2013–2016. This pilot served as an important policy foundation for the agricultural production trusteeship policy promoted nationwide after 2017 and represented an early institutional exploration of promoting service-scale operation through fiscal support for productive service provision in China. Using county-level panel data from three provinces over the period 2006–2016, this study evaluated the effect of fiscal subsidies embedded in outsourced service transactions on grain-sown area within a two-way fixed-effects framework with county and year fixed effects. The results show that the pilot significantly expanded the county-level grain-sown area, with the pilot counties increasing their grain-sown area by approximately 1.986 thousand hectares on average. When policy intensity is measured according to the amount of subsidies, each additional 10 million yuan of fiscal subsidies increased the grain-sown area by approximately 3.103 thousand hectares on average. Heterogeneity analysis shows that the marginal effects were stronger in counties with weaker fiscal capacity or lower levels of mechanization, indicating that the policy effects were more pronounced in areas with relatively weak initial conditions. In terms of policy implications, this paper recommends differentiated and performance-based support, improved governance of the agricultural service market, and prioritizing resource allocation to areas with weaker initial conditions, so as to enhance the scale and resilience of food security. This paper provides county-level quasi-causal evidence and an empirical reference for supporting agricultural productive services through fiscal policy to overcome the constraints of fragmented smallholder farming. Full article

In this study, Lactiplantibacillus plantarum XHQ-007, sourced from fermented pineapple pomace, was investigated using whole-genome sequencing (WGS) and systematic phenotypic assays to evaluate its biosafety and functional potential in food applications. The strain showed a 79.94% reduction in detectable tyramine under complex fermentation conditions. In the absence of pH-matched abiotic controls, this reduction cannot be exclusively attributed to enzymatic degradation and may also involve chemical or acid-mediated matrix effects. Further studies are required to distinguish biological degradation from physicochemical contributions. Genomic analysis suggested that this capability may be associated with a putative candidate tyramine-associated metabolic pathway involving the multicopper oxidase cueO and the putative hpa gene cluster, rather than conventional amine oxidases. Furthermore, the isolate displayed strong resilience against gastrointestinal stressors, such as acidic conditions and bile salts. Safety assessments confirmed the absence of hemolytic activity and mobile antibiotic resistance genes. Notably, WGS also identified a plantaricin (pln) operon containing regulatory elements (plnABCD) and structural genes (plnMNOP), suggesting genomic potential for bacteriocin-related functions. The identification of poxL and nox2 may further indicate energy metabolism and redox homeostasis. Overall, this study provides a genome-informed and phenotype-supported characterization of L. plantarum XHQ-007 in a fermentation context. However, all mechanistic interpretations remain putative and require further experimental validation. Full article

Bottom-up approaches to climate resilience are increasingly promoted, yet there remains a gap in understanding how science-society connections can be operationalized in everyday contexts to support adaptive land-use practices, particularly in small towns and peripheral regions. This paper addresses this gap by examining how Living Labs (LLs) can function as process-oriented interfaces between scientific knowledge, local experience, and participatory negotiation, rather than as instruments for producing novel biophysical and social-learning insights. Drawing on selected case studies from the Biodiversity Hub and the Department for Building and Environment at the University for Continuing Education Krems (Austria), the study applies a qualitative, transdisciplinary Living Lab approach combining regular shared site walks, emotional communication, and cross-sectoral ecosystem services assessment matrices (aligned with established classifications and quantitative data collection). Resilience is grounded in the literature as a social–ecological capacity for adaptation and transformation and is operationalized pragmatically as the strengthening of connectedness between people, place, and ecological processes. The key findings show that short, place-based, and experiential interactions—such as shared walks and co-creative ecosystem service assessments—can lower participation barriers, mitigate power asymmetries, and enable rapid integration of scientific perspectives into everyday land-use decision-making. Rather than producing directly replicable outcomes, Living Labs generate transferable process principles, including emotional correspondence, structured negotiation, and the use of simple boundary tools to support collective learning and action. The paper contributes to resilience and land-system research by demonstrating how Living Labs can enhance local adaptive capacity and climate resilience through process design, immediate feedback, and continuous experimentation. It thereby complements conventional, indicator-driven assessments by illustrating how resilience can be enacted through participatory, place-based governance practices, offering practical guidance for municipalities and regions facing climate-related risks such as heat stress, drought, soil degradation, biodiversity loss, and increasing pressures on the secure provision of food, materials, and drinking water. Full article

Global salinization affects approximately one billion hectares of land in more than 100 countries, posing a severe threat to food security and ecosystem sustainability. Microbial remediation using plant growth-promoting microorganisms offers an eco-friendly alternative to physicochemical methods. However, bridging the gap between laboratory cultivation of single strains and field-scale application of synthetic microbial communities (SynComs) remains difficult, owing to inconsistent efficacy and a lack of unified design frameworks. This review examines the evolution from single strains to rationally designed SynComs for saline soil remediation. A ‘structure–function–mechanism’ framework is proposed, integrating five core microbial modules, namely ion regulation and osmotic stabilization, ethylene and phytohormone modulation, antioxidant activation, nutrient cycle activation, and systemic resistance induction. The review elucidates key determinants of synthetic community success, including functional complementarity, strain compatibility, and host–environment matching, while revealing a marked quantitative gap between controlled experiments and field performance. Key bottlenecks are identified, including the lack of high-throughput compatibility screening, poorly quantified long-term ecological risks, and the absence of standardized application guidelines across agro-ecological zones. Finally, emerging avenues are discussed, such as microbial–microalgal symbiosis and AI-assisted design, outlining a roadmap for next-generation smart microbial products integrated into climate-resilient farming systems. Full article

Balancing wetland conservation with food security is a critical challenge for developing countries. This study compares land use change and its impacts on soil properties in two hydrologically distinct wetlands: the rain-fed Jinchuan Peatland in China and the flood-fed Kilombero Valley Floodplain (KVFP) in Tanzania. Using remote sensing data from 1990 to 2018 and soil physicochemical analysis, we found divergent reclamation trajectories. Wetland conversion has slowed in China but accelerated in Tanzania’s KVFP due to population pressure. Our results reveal a fundamental mechanism: rain-fed wetlands, lacking external nutrient replenishment, experience significantly greater soil degradation after conversion compared to flood-fed wetlands, which benefit from continued alluvial sediment inputs. Both sites showed post-conversion declines in soil moisture, total organic carbon (TOC), and total nitrogen (TN), alongside increased pH and bulk density. However, soil fertility loss was markedly more severe in Jinchuan than in KVFP. This disparity is attributed to the inability of rain-fed systems to replenish nutrients externally, whereas flood-fed KVFP benefits from continued alluvial sediment inputs. Our findings elucidate a key mechanism: flood-fed wetlands possess a natural resilience to agricultural disturbance through hydrological replenishment, making them potentially more suitable for sustainable utilization in food-insecure nations. Consequently, we propose that wetland management policies must be customized based on water source type and national development context, advocating for the targeted, science-based utilization of flood-fed wetlands as a strategic approach to reconcile food production with ecosystem preservation in regions like Tanzania. Full article

Climate change is emerging not only as a threat to global food production but also as a major driver of declining nutritional quality in food crops. Throughout this review, terms such as nutrient decline, imbalance, and nutritional quality changes are used to describe relative changes in the nutritional attributes of edible crop tissues, as reported in the source studies. Elevated atmospheric CO₂, altered rainfall patterns, shifts in solar radiation, and rising temperatures influence soil processes, plant metabolism, and genotype × environment interactions that determine nutrient composition and density. Evidence from controlled experiments, free-air CO₂ enrichment (FACE) studies, field trials, and meta-analyses suggests a recurrent tendency toward reduced concentrations of essential macronutrients and micronutrients, including protein, iron, zinc, and selected B-vitamins in a range of cereals, legumes, and horticultural crops, while responses remain context-dependent and are not universally observed across all nutrients, cultivars, or production systems. These reductions raise serious concerns for populations already experiencing widespread micronutrient deficiencies. This review synthesizes the current knowledge on the extent and mechanisms of climate-driven nutrient decline across major crops, highlighting variability among species, cultivars, and production environments. We also evaluate the potential health consequences, particularly heightened risks of anemia, impaired immunity, developmental challenges, and other deficiency-related disorders. Regions such as South Asia, Southeast Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa are identified as highly vulnerable due to their strong dependence on nutrient-poor staples and existing burdens of hidden hunger. Furthermore, we assess key mitigation and adaptation pathways, including agronomic innovations, climate-smart agricultural practices, biofortification, advanced breeding strategies, and the emerging use of microbial and cyanobacterial biostimulants to enhance nutritional resilience in cropping systems. Finally, this review provides an integrated synthesis of climate-induced nutrient decline, its health implications for vulnerable populations, and priority actions needed to protect global food and nutrition security in the face of accelerating climate change. Full article

Background/Objectives: Cognitive function is fundamental to daily life, and nutrition is a key modifiable determinant of brain health across the lifespan. While plant-based “brain foods” have been emphasized, the contributions of animal-sourced foods (ASF) to neurodevelopment and cognitive performance remain underexplored. This review synthesizes current evidence on the effects of both plant- and animal-derived foods on cognitive outcomes from early development through older adulthood. Methods: A narrative review was conducted focusing on eight major categories of brain-supportive foods—dairy, eggs, seafood, lean meat, berries, leafy green vegetables, nuts, and whole grains. Evidence was evaluated across life stages, considering nutrient bioavailability, dietary patterns, and the interplay between structural, socioeconomic, and environmental factors that influence access to these foods. Results: Nutrient-dense foods, including ASF and plant-based sources, support cognitive outcomes across the life course. In early childhood, eggs, meat, and nuts were linked to improved neurodevelopment and reductions in developmental delays, while evidence for seafood and dairy was more mixed. During adolescence and adulthood, berries, walnuts, vegetables, and whole grains were associated with improvements in executive function, verbal reasoning, and mood, with adequate bioavailable protein from ASF remaining important. Among older adults, higher intake of leafy greens, nuts, berries, and moderate seafood consumption correlated with slower cognitive decline and improved memory. Findings were limited by heterogeneous study designs, dietary assessments, and underrepresentation of adolescents and populations in low- and middle-income countries. Conclusions: Both animal-sourced and plant-based brain foods uniquely support cognitive development, maintenance, and resilience. While nutritional needs vary across the life course, strong evidence supporting distinct food-based dietary recommendations for cognitive outcomes at different ages, particularly adolescents, remains limited. Current findings suggest stage-specific associations, particularly during early development, but more longitudinal and experimental research is needed. Expanding rigorous, inclusive research will be critical for informing nutrition policies that support lifelong cognitive health. Full article

The crop system of soybean–maize succession has been adopted widely in the Neotropics. It inadvertently provides continuous food resources (green bridges) to stink bugs (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae), favoring outbreaks. Thus, stink bugs need to be managed within a broader and more holistic perspective. Not just individual fields but the whole landscape should be monitored and managed, since these pest outbreaks are deeply influenced by neighboring fields and successive crops in the same field. During the first crop season, stink bugs should be controlled only in the reproductive stage of soybean (from the R3 to R6 plant development stage), when the population is equal to or higher than the economic threshold (ET) of two stink bugs·m⁻¹. Biological control or plant resistance strategies should be used instead of chemicals whenever possible. When the ET is reached at R7 or R8, more tolerant maize varieties (fast growing) should be sown in the second crop season with the seed treatment using recommended insecticides. Grain losses during harvest and the presence of weeds must be avoided at the end of the soybean season. Chemical insecticide sprayings on maize might still be necessary if Diceraeus spp. outbreaks equal or surpass three stink bugs·m⁻¹ during early maize stages (until V7). This more precise and less impactful management of the agroecosystem will promote a more sustainable and resilient management of these polyphagous pests. Full article

Salt stress remains a major global stress factor among abiotic stresses limiting crop production. Salt stress is a major nutritional challenge, with poor agricultural production characterized by high soil sodium (Na⁺) levels in soil and plants. Soil salinity negatively affects plants through both osmotic effects and ionic toxicity. Hence, one of the main aims of agricultural scientists is to develop eco-friendly, sustainable solutions to alleviate soil salinity. Over the past decades, several studies have recommended biochar as a vital sustainable soil amendment to alleviate the negative consequences of soil salinity. Thus, this review builds on the literature on biochar-mediated alleviation of salt stress. Biochar is a carbon-rich material produced from biomass and feedstock via pyrolysis under little or no oxygen conditions. Due to its unique characteristics, such as high carbon, high surface area with porous and aromatic structure, high pH, high stability, cation exchange capacity, and water and nutrient retention capacity, it is considered an alternative for salt stress alleviation. Moreover, biochar facilitates sodium ion (Na⁺) adsorption, reduces Na⁺ uptake, and increases potassium ion (K⁺) uptake, enhancing nutrient cycling, helping plants maintain ionic balance and osmotic regulation. This, in turn, significantly increased the activity and diversity of soil microorganisms, enhanced their adhesion, and promoted their growth, thereby strengthening the plant’s salt resistance. Moreover, biochar-mediated improvements in microbial community dynamics and changes in the physical and biological properties of soil contribute to overall plant and soil health under salt stress. Hence, the present review aims to decipher the holistic patterns of biochar on soil and plant health, changes in physiological and defense mechanisms, plant hormones and signaling mechanisms, and the status of modified biochar under salt stress. Thus, the present review will pave the way for the production of salt-resilient crops with enhanced salinity tolerance. In conclusion, the use of biochar-based fertilizers and modified biochar enhanced microbial community dynamics in soil health homeostasis and soil fertility for agricultural production and food security. Full article

Background: The translocation of diet-derived antigens from the maternal intestine to breast milk represents a primary gateway for neonatal immune priming, yet the structural basis for why certain proteins survive this transit while others do not remains poorly understood. This review introduces the “Survivor Peptide” hypothesis, proposing that specific food allergens possess intrinsic “stability architectures” that enable them to resist maternal digestion and navigate the gut–mammary axis to reach the infant in an immunologically active form. Methods: We analyzed the current literature regarding the detection and structural characteristics of food allergens in human milk. Integrating evidence from 26 major sources, we performed an in silico structural analysis of five representative “survivor” proteins: Gal d 1 (egg white), Bos d 5 (cow’s milk), Gal d 6 (egg yolk), Tri a 19 (wheat), and tropomyosin (Der p 10-mite/shellfish). High-resolution 3D models were retrieved from the Protein Data Bank and AlphaFold2, and then visualized in UCSF ChimeraX to map stability anchors, including disulfide bonds and hydrophobic clusters, against solvent-accessible IgE-binding epitopes. Results: We identified and categorized allergens into distinct Molecular Resilience Architectures: the “Covalent Cage” (Gal d 1), defined by dense disulfide stapling, the “Glycoprotein Shield” (Gal d 6), utilizing yolk-matrix structural anchors, the “Topological Shield” (Bos d 5), characterized by a stable β-barrel, and “Coiled-Coil Rigidity” (Der p 10). These frameworks protect large, immunogenic fragments that maintain the spatial arrangement required for IgE cross-linking. Conclusions: Allergen persistence in the gut–mammary axis is dictated by a protein’s intrinsic structural architecture. Identifying these stability fingerprints provides a unified theory for allergen persistence and offers a path for refining component-resolved diagnostics and neonatal oral tolerance strategies. Full article

Most Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) involve water, but integrated water resources management (IWRM) does not address them explicitly, especially the important health and sanitation goals. IWRM has structural problems and has been used mainly as a development tool rather than a way to manage water. There is no consensus among the professional communities about the methods and value of IWRM, and its inherent problems make assessment of its success difficult. It surveys national levels while most applications are at local levels. Efforts to improve and assess progress in the water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) sector faced similar obstacles, and a new approach based on household surveys was adopted. The mismatch between IWRM and WASH is caused by the polarization between communities of practice for public health and water management. Tools posted by the Global Water Partnership (GWP) do not address WASH explicitly, and the public health profession does not embrace IWRM. These problems can be mitigated by a new definition of IWRM that combines WASH with other water-related issues. To address its complexity, situational archetypes can be mapped to local levels and explained by case studies. To assess progress in IWRM implementation, a new approach should focus on results at local levels rather than methods at the national levels and address the polarization with WASH. SDG reporting relating to water should focus on local outcomes with WASH included, as well as key purposes that include water for food, flood control, drought resilience, and the sustainability of ecosystems. Progress could be assessed via outcome data collected by sector organizations. The GWP program could adopt a new definition of IWRM and new methods of assessment. Full article

The European Union’s Farm-to-Fork (F2F) Strategy sets an ambitious agenda for a socio-ecological transition, positioning agriculture as a critical sector for achieving sustainable food systems. However, its implementation faces significant systemic barriers that hinder its transformative potential. This paper applies a diagnostic framework, derived from the H2020-funded PHOENIX project, that identifies six key challenges to democratic innovations in environmental governance: prolonged timeframes for tangible results, the complexity of environmental issues, the need for transcalar cooperation, the imperative to foster behavioural change, limited deliberative dialogue, and the need to build mutual trust. Through a review of public policies and scholarly literature, this analysis evaluates how these challenges manifest within the F2F Strategy, impacting farmers and the broader agri-food system. The findings demonstrate that barriers to F2F implementation are not solely technical or economic but are deeply linked to governance fragmentation, uneven knowledge flows, and deficits in trust relations. Crucially, the study reveals that Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation Systems (AKIS) and associated Education and Training (ET) consistently emerge as pivotal enabling mechanisms to mitigate these constraints. The research generates actionable recommendations to reinforce F2F by redefining the roles of innovation, education, and multi-level collaboration in building resilient and sustainable EU agri-food systems. Full article

In 2024, China generated approximately 130 million tons of food waste. This study focuses on food wastewater characterized by exceptionally high organic strength (chemical oxygen demand (COD) > 80 g·L⁻¹, total suspended solids (TSS) > 20 g·L⁻¹) content. Conventional continuous stirred tank reactors (CSTRs) inherently couple hydraulic retention time (HRT) and sludge retention time (SRT), making them prone to microbial washout under high organic loading. To overcome this limitation, this study employed two anaerobic sequencing batch reactors (ASBRs) for treating such high-strength food wastewater. This study systematically evaluated the impacts of temperature (mesophilic: 37 °C and thermophilic: 55 °C) and organic loading rate (OLR) on fermentation performance. Under stable operation (OLR = 5.6 kg_COD·m⁻³·d⁻¹; HRT = 16 days), the mesophilic ASBR achieved a specific methane yield of 307 mL CH₄·g_CODremoved⁻¹, an average COD removal efficiency of 81%, and a volatile fatty acids-to-total alkalinity (VFA/TA) ratio of 0.2, indicating robust process stability. In contrast, the thermophilic ASBR exhibited a VFA/TA ratio of 0.5, signaling incipient acidification. Microbial community analysis revealed significantly higher bacterial and archaeal alpha diversity in the mesophilic system. Notably, Methanothrix—a versatile acetoclastic methanogen—dominated the mesophilic archaeal community (66.65%), conferring functional redundancy and resilience against organic shock loads. By contrast, the thermophilic system was overwhelmingly dominated by the hydrogenotrophic Methanothermobacter (99.28%), resulting in low functional diversity and structural fragility. Compared with a benchmark mesophilic CSTR (specific methane yield: 276 mL CH₄·g_CODremoved⁻¹; COD removal efficiency: 70.6%), the mesophilic ASBR improved methane yield by 11%, COD removal efficiency by 15%, and operational stability (VFA/TA = 0.2 vs. 0.6). This work addresses a gap in ASBR applications for high-strength food wastewater treatment and provides experimental validation of the performance, stability, and scalability of mesophilic ASBRs. The proposed process represents a technically feasible, resource-efficient, and operationally robust solution for the valorization of organic wastewater with COD > 80 g·L⁻¹ and TSS > 20 g·L⁻¹. Full article