Preserving Fresh Fruit Quality Under Climate Stress: Postharvest Technologies and Strategies

Climate change is reshaping the conditions under which fresh fruit is stored, transported, and sold. Erratic temperatures, drought, elevated atmospheric CO₂, and more frequent extreme weather events are altering fruit physiology in ways that accelerate deterioration, shorten shelf life, and increase postharvest losses across horticultural supply chains. These shifts also affect fruit texture, nutritional composition, and susceptibility to spoilage organisms, raising concerns for food and nutritional security worldwide. Meeting this challenge requires better preservation and packaging science: smart cold-chain systems, controlled and modified atmosphere storage, edible and biodegradable coatings, non-thermal preservation techniques, and nanotechnology-enabled packaging materials that can absorb the added stress climate change places on stored produce. Advancing these technologies is essential to protect fruit quality, reduce losses, and keep supply chains resilient as climate conditions become less predictable.This Research Topic brings together research advancing postharvest preservation and packaging technologies that keep fresh fruit quality stable under increasingly variable climate conditions. It centers on smart cold-chain management, controlled and modified atmosphere storage, edible and bioactive coatings, biodegradable and active packaging, and non-thermal preservation methods, including nanotechnology-enabled packaging materials. It also welcomes complementary work that supports these preservation strategies: AI- and IoT-based quality monitoring and shelf-life prediction, digital tools for supply-chain tracking, omics-informed approaches to spoilage and quality control, microbial and fermentation-based interventions, and circular-economy approaches to postharvest waste valorization. The aim is to connect postharvest engineering, materials science, food safety, and food biotechnology into a coherent picture of how preservation and packaging science can be made climate-resilient, reducing losses and environmental footprint while strengthening the sustainability of fruit supply chains.This Research Topic welcomes original research, reviews, mini-reviews, perspectives, methods, and opinion papers. The scope includes, but is not limited to:- Smart cold-chain management and cooling technologies;- Controlled and modified atmosphere storage;- Edible coatings, biodegradable and active packaging materials;- Nanotechnology-enabled packaging and non-thermal preservation methods;- AI, IoT, sensors, and digital tools for quality monitoring and shelf-life prediction;- Omics-informed approaches to postharvest quality and spoilage control;- Microbial and fermentation-based interventions supporting preservation;- Postharvest waste valorization and circular-economy approaches to loss reduction.Studies addressing how climate variability affects storage performance and preservation outcomes are particularly encouraged, as are interdisciplinary submissions bridging food engineering, materials science, food safety, and food biotechnology. Topic editors: SUNNY SHARMA, Nomali Ngobese, Vishal Singh Rana Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/84004/preserving-fresh-fruit-quality-under-climate-stress-postharvest-technologies-and-strategies