A Systematic Review of Real-Time Monitoring Technologies and Its Potential Application to Reduce Food Loss and Waste: Key Elements of Food Supply Chains and IoT Technologies

Tamíris Pacheco da Costa (), James Gillespie, Xavier Cama-Moncunill, Shane Ward, Joan Condell, Ramakrishnan Ramanathan and Fionnuala Murphy
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Tamíris Pacheco da Costa: School of Biosystems & Food Engineering, University College Dublin, Agriculture Building, UCD Belfield, D04 V1W8 Dublin, Ireland
James Gillespie: School of Computing, Engineering and Intelligent Systems, Magee Campus, Ulster University, Northland Road, Londonderry BT48 7JL, UK
Xavier Cama-Moncunill: School of Biosystems & Food Engineering, University College Dublin, Agriculture Building, UCD Belfield, D04 V1W8 Dublin, Ireland
Shane Ward: School of Biosystems & Food Engineering, University College Dublin, Agriculture Building, UCD Belfield, D04 V1W8 Dublin, Ireland
Joan Condell: School of Computing, Engineering and Intelligent Systems, Magee Campus, Ulster University, Northland Road, Londonderry BT48 7JL, UK
Ramakrishnan Ramanathan: Essex Business School, Southend Campus, University of Essex, Elmer Approach, Southend-on-Sea, Essex SS1 1LW, UK
Fionnuala Murphy: School of Biosystems & Food Engineering, University College Dublin, Agriculture Building, UCD Belfield, D04 V1W8 Dublin, Ireland

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 15, issue 1, 1-27

Abstract: Continuous monitoring of food loss and waste (FLW) is crucial for improving food security and mitigating climate change. By measuring quality parameters such as temperature and humidity, real-time sensors are technologies that can continuously monitor the quality of food and thereby help reduce FLW. While there is enough literature on sensors, there is still a lack of understanding on how, where and to what extent these sensors have been applied to monitor FLW. In this paper, a systematic review of 59 published studies focused on sensor technologies to reduce food waste in food supply chains was performed with a view to synthesising the experience and lessons learnt. This review examines two aspects of the field, namely, the type of IoT technologies applied and the characteristics of the supply chains in which it has been deployed. Supply chain characteristics according to the type of product, supply chain stage, and region were examined, while sensor technology explores the monitored parameters, communication protocols, data storage, and application layers. This article shows that, while due to their high perishability and short shelf lives, monitoring fruit and vegetables using a combination of temperature and humidity sensors is the most recurring goal of the research, there are many other applications and technologies being explored in the research space for the reduction of food waste. In addition, it was demonstrated that there is huge potential in the field, and that IoT technologies should be continually explored and applied to improve food production, management, transportation, and storage to support the cause of reducing FLW.

Keywords: food loss and waste; IoT technologies; real-time; sensors; food supply chains (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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