4th International Conference on Natural Resources and Technology, Sumatera Utara, Indonesia, 29-30 August 2022

These proceedings, with a theme of Natural Resources and Technology for Achieving Sustainable Development Goal through Academic, Industry, and Community and a subtheme of Resilience and Innovation Research on Sustainable Natural Resources and Technology Post-Covid 19, contain 104 articles covering 6 major topics in the related fields such as (i) Natural science and natural product, (ii) Natural resource technology, (iii) Information systems of tropical resources, (iv) Tropical biodiversity, (v) Food science and food technology, and (vi) Ethnobotany and ethnozoology.

Research advances on processing and quality safety control technology of aquatic pre-made products

Due to the growing demand for instant food and lifestyle change after the COVID-19, aquatic pre-made products become popular. The unique nutritional and functional characteristics and processing suitability of aquatic products make them suitable for the development of ready-to-eat, instant heat, instant cooked and ready-to-use pre-made products. However, due to their unique fishy taste, texture and perishable characteristics, appropriate pretreatment technology, flavor and quality improvement and maintenance technology as well as storage technology in the processing and storage process need to be adopted so as to improve the quality of pre-made products. The main factors affecting the quality and safety of aquatic product pre-made products include biological hazards, chemical hazards and physical hazards. Therefore, quality control technologies of aquatic pre-made products including the raw material collection, processing process and the cold chain transportation process are necessary. In the future, aquatic pre-made products should be more nutritious, high-quality and diversified because of the improvement of nutrition and quality control technology.

Technology offers sustainable nutrition solutions

The aim of the article was to provide an update on recommendations made in a IUFoST study on the contribution of food science and technology to sustainable nutrition. The added immediate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is also examined, as well as providing update of the previous recommendations for action within the food chain to improve global diet and health via innovation in food manufacture and distribution. The arrival of the global COVID-19 pandemic has changed the expected routes for their implementation but has accelerated the need for these actions. However, they do not believe that their long-term overall importance has been changed. Global harmonisation will be necessary and should probably relate to the nutrient availability within foods, not just their type or brand. Like manufacturing, distribution also benefits from economies of scale and responds to consumer demand. There are already signs that manufacturers and retailers of finished foods will drive future branding via health benefits as well as the eating quality and cost. The pandemic is accelerating these trends, and it is likely that legislation will devote greater attention to nutrient values.

Avoiding Food Neophobia and Increasing Consumer Acceptance of New Food Trends—A Decade of Research

The increasingly fierce competition in food trends requires producers to innovate and develop new foods to be accepted and to avoid neophobia by consumers at the same time. Food neophobia’s motivational adoption barriers include the consumption of novel foods, social norms and conflicting eating goals. Therefore, appropriate strategies are needed to avoid neophobia amid the presence of new food trends in the market. Efforts to avoid food neophobia can also be accepted as part of the sustainability concept, in which the consumer has new foods to choose from in order to reduce scarcity in one particular type of food. The food industry is also challenged to produce healthy food by producing food from natural ingredients. In this article, new food trends and advances in food processing are described, and through them, strategies to avoid neophobia and increase consumer acceptance of new food trends are referenced. Neophobia meets marketing food products delivered to consumers facing motivational adoption barriers, such as the consumption of novel foods, social norms and conflicting eating goals, which are indicated to be challenges to purchase drivers in new food trends. Tasting foods is indicated as one of the most efficient means to ensure neophobia reduction in new foods and new food trends. Other factors identified to reduce food neophobia are education, income, taste and exposure to novel foods. Some preconditions for novel foods to be accepted by consumers are related to the very nature of food innovation, the manufacturer’s features and market circumstances. Food processed with advanced technologies may differ depending on the brand of the food production company and the knowledge of consumers about the novel foods. Moreover, food technology is seen as more acceptable for plant food products based or natural ingredients for consumers. In addition to the focus on health benefits, it is supports the sustainability of food systems. Another accidental element is the transparent traceability system providing accurate and adequate information about such novel foods.

Boost incentives to grow agro-industrial parks – report

Agro-industrial parks are dedicated business areas that focus on processing farm produce, and on farming inputs such as fertilisers, according to the new study released by the Commercial Agriculture for Smallholders and Agribusiness (CASA) programme The World Bank says that COVID-19 led to “severe and widespread increases in global food insecurity, affecting vulnerable households in almost every country, with impacts expected to continue into 2022 and possibly beyond”. According to data from the analysis group AgFunder, India saw funding for agri-food technology rise from US$619 million during the first half of 2020 to US$2 billion in the first half of 2021, underlining the growing potential of the sector. CASA says that agro-industrial parks are “complex, long-term projects that require strategic and policy continuity and alignment between – and contributions from – numerous stakeholders, including government bodies, financiers, private sector actors, civil society organisations and external supporters”. Since agro-industrial parks are capital-intensive projects that typically take ten years to be fully established and generate significant public and private revenues, large-scale public funds may need to be mobilised to finance the project as well as co-financing via public-private partnerships, the paper says.

A Review on Current Designation of Metallic Nanocomposite Hydrogel in Biomedical Applications

In the past few decades, nanotechnology has been receiving significant attention globally and is being continuously developed in various innovations for diverse applications, such as tissue engineering, biotechnology, biomedicine, textile, and food technology. Nanotechnological materials reportedly lack cell-interactive properties and are easily degraded into unfavourable products due to the presence of synthetic polymers in their structures. This is a major drawback of nanomaterials and is a cause of concern in the biomedicine field. Meanwhile, particulate systems, such as metallic nanoparticles (NPs), have captured the interest of the medical field due to their potential to inhibit the growth of microorganisms (bacteria, fungi, and viruses). Lately, researchers have shown a great interest in hydrogels in the biomedicine field due to their ability to retain and release drugs as well as to offer a moist environment. Hence, the development and innovation of hydrogel-incorporated metallic NPs from natural sources has become one of the alternative pathways for elevating the efficiency of therapeutic systems to make them highly effective and with fewer undesirable side effects. The objective of this review article is to provide insights into the latest fabricated metallic nanocomposite hydrogels and their current applications in the biomedicine field using nanotechnology and to discuss the limitations of this technology for future exploration. This article gives an overview of recent metallic nanocomposite hydrogels fabricated from bioresources, and it reviews their antimicrobial activities in facilitating the demands for their application in biomedicine. The work underlines the fabrication of various metallic nanocomposite hydrogels through the utilization of natural sources in the production of biomedical innovations, including wound healing treatment, drug delivery, scaffolds, etc. The potential of these nanocomposites in relation to their mechanical strength, antimicrobial activities, cytotoxicity, and optical properties has brought this technology into a new dimension in the biomedicine field. Finally, the limitations of metallic nanocomposite hydrogels in terms of their methods of synthesis, properties, and outlook for biomedical applications are further discussed.

Value-added products in food science in terms of industry 4.0 applications for COVID-19 pandemic duration

Food and beverage industries encounter manifold challenges from recalls regarding serving customer demands. It is predicted that Industry 4.0 will turn manufacturers into predictors instead of reactors. The sustainability of the food systems in the pandemic duration is another issue that this sector should address in order to restrain the possible forthcoming pandemic times. In COVID-19 duration, there is need the sustainability of bioactive constituent applications for ''value-added food and supplement products'' and ''functional foods'' and need the pursuing and monitoring of food plant design studies, production strategies through Industry 4.0. implementations. In this proceeding content, value-added food products in food science in terms of Industry 4.0 procedures in COVID-19 duration.

Transmission of COVID-19 in current food systems and food safety

In 2021, the reality of exponential technology innovations being operative in almost every aspects of life put both the innovation and appropriation on an exponential curve. The COVID-19, broadly referred to as "coronavirus", a global pandemic, while thousands of infections and deaths are reported daily. The proper implementation of innovative technologies would help to enhance education and communication for not only fighting local and global medical emergencies but also food sector management. How this pandemic may impact the future of food science technology, innovations and the workplace for future generations? This ensures insights regarding the characteristics of bioactive ingredients from foods, nutraceuticals and pharmaceuticals for the human immune system support against infections prior to discussing the possibility of COVID-19 transmission through the food chain.

Introduction to food disruptions

Disruption technologies have been referred to as revolutionary that cause game-changing shifts in established market structures, companies, and institutions. Forecasting what constitutes a disruptive technology for the agri-food industry is complicated as the impact is more likely to be measured from a retrospective downstream reflective process. DTs can substantially cause localized change within a market or industry (i.e., first-order disruption) and cause ground-breaking changes across many cross-cutting domains (i.e., second-order disruption) over short or more extended time periods that substantially influence societal norms. Modern-day and future food disruption will be influenced by growing demand to produce more safe nutritious food to meet increasing populations that will respond to dynamic changes in eating habits, personalized nutrition, and consumer attitudes toward alternative protein sources and climate change. Exploiting advances in information communications technology and advanced manufacturing (such as the Internet of Things, big data, blockchain, artificial intelligence, robotics, augment and virtual reality, 3D printing) will inform creative disruption such as security, packaging, and enhanced online delivery in the food supply chain that is comprehensively addressed throughout this book. A review of the recent 43 projects funded by the Irish government under Science Foundation Ireland’s Disruptive Technology initiative highlighted trends in the innovation ecosystem and the potential for both cross-cutting and future food disruption with global outreach and orientation. This chapter introduces the best knowledge as to how to potentially meet these needs that will also influence education and workforce training. © 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Forecasting the next revolution: food technology’s impact on consumers' acceptance and satisfaction

Purpose: In a sector that needs to satisfy a fast-increasing population, advancements like cultivated meat and bio-circular economy are basic to sustain the industry and the society. As innovations are key for economic and social progress, it is crucial to understand consumers' position on this matter. Design/methodology/approach: Based on text data mining, 7,030 tweets were collected and organised into 14 different food-related topics. Of the total, 6 of these categories were positive, 5 were negative and 3 were neutral. Findings: In total, 6 categories related to food technologies were positively perceived by Twitter users, such as innovative solutions and sustainable agriculture, while 5 like the virtual dimensions of the industry or crisis-related scenarios were negatively perceived. It is remarkable that 3 categories had a neutral sentiment, which gives ground to improvement before consumers have a negative opinion and consequently will be more complicated to change their minds. Originality/value: Technological innovations are becoming predominant in the food industry. The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has made the sector improve even faster. Traditional methods needed to be substituted and technologies such as robots, artificial intelligence, blockchain and genetics are here to stay. © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited.