Institut Supérieur d'Agriculture Rhône-Alpes

To satisfy the increasing demand for food by the growing human population, cultured meat (also called in vitro, artificial or lab-grown meat) is presented by its advocates as a good alternative for consumers who want to be more responsible but do not wish to change their diet. In terms of technical issues, research is still required to optimize cell culture, for instance in terms of culture medium. Nevertheless, whereas we can produce muscle cells, it is almost impossible to reproduce the diversity of meats derived from various species, breeds and cuts. Although these are not yet known, we speculated on the potential health benefits and drawbacks of cultured meat. It is true that the absence of adjacent digestive organs would suggest that cultured muscle cells may be safer. On the other hand, with this high level of cell multiplication, some dysregulation is likely as happens in cancer cells. Likewise, the control of its nutritional composition is still unclear, especially for micronutrients. Regarding environmental issues, the potential advantages of cultured meat for greenhouse gas emissions are a matter of controversy, although less land will be used compared to livestock. However, more criteria need to be taken into account for a comparison with current meat production. Regarding the market share, cultured meat will have to compete with other meat substitutes, especially plant-based alternatives, with many of these already commercialized, unlike artificial meat. Consumer acceptance will be strongly influenced by the name given to this new product, since consumers tend to reject “in vitro” or “cultured” meat technology. In fact, consumers seem to dislike unnatural food. Ethically, cultured meat aims to use considerably fewer animals than conventional livestock farming, making it attractive to vegetarians and vegans. However, some animals will still have to be reared to harvest cells for the production of in vitro meat. Finally, we discussed in this review the nebulous status of cultured meat from a religious point of view. Indeed, religious authorities are still debating the question of whether in vitro meat is kosher or Halal (e.g. compliant with Jewish or Islamic dietary laws).

Nisin is a natural preservative for many food products. This bacteriocin is mainly used in dairy and meat products. Nisin inhibits pathogenic food borne bacteria such as Listeria monocytogenes and many other Gram-positive food spoilage microorganisms. Nisin can be used alone or in combination with other preservatives or also with several physical treatments. This paper reviews physicochemical and biological properties of nisin, the main factors affecting its antimicrobial effectiveness, and its food applications as an additive directly incorporated into food matrices.

Abstract Conservation tillage covers a range of tillage practices, mostly non‐inversion, which aim to conserve soil moisture and reduce soil erosion by leaving more than one‐third of the soil surface covered by crop residues. Organic farmers are encouraged to adopt conservation tillage to preserve soil quality and fertility and to prevent soil degradation – mainly erosion and compaction. The potential advantages of conservation tillage in organic farming are reduced erosion, greater macroporosity in the soil surface due to larger number of earthworms, more microbial activity and carbon storage, less run‐off and leaching of nutrients, reduced fuel use and faster tillage. The disadvantages of conservation tillage in organic farming are greater pressure from grass weeds, less suitable than ploughing for poorly drained, unstable soils or high rainfall areas, restricted N availability and restricted crop choice. The success of conservation tillage in organic farming hinges on the choice of crop rotation to ensure weed and disease control and nitrogen availability. Rotation of tillage depth according to crop type, in conjunction with compaction control measures is also required. A high standard of management is required, tailored to local soil and site conditions. Innovative approaches for the application of conservation tillage, such as perennial mulches, mechanical control of cover crops, rotational tillage and controlled traffic, require further practical assessment.

Background: The fruit of the date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) is one of the most abundant fruits in the world. Hundreds of varieties having different texture, color, and flavor are available for valorization and adoption in food processing operations. Such utilization should be based on the fruit valuable characteristics; mainly its richness in dietary fiber and phenolic antioxidants. Scope and approach: This review article complements these existing reviews by primarily addressing the chemistry and processing of date fruits pulp and seeds with particular emphasis on dietary fiber and antioxidants as linked to important fruit processing and utilization features. Key findings and conclusions: Date fruits contain 6.5-11.5% total dietary fibers (of which 84-94% insoluble and 6-16% soluble dietary fiber) and is very rich in phenolic antioxidants (1-2%) especially condensed tannin pigments based on (-)-epicatechin oligomers. Date seeds contain about 15% of fiber, characterized by a high level of water-insoluble mannan fibers. Date fruits are widely available in the global market, mainly at mature Tamr stage, but there is still room for improvement. It has been suggested that date fruits and seeds can be exploited in some food applications utilizing their high levels of fiber and antioxidants. The incorporation of date fruits and seeds as food ingredients is still growing with the aim to promote the presence of dates in the modern's consumer shopping basket.

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At present, agroecology can be interpreted as a scientific discipline, as a movement or as a practice. In this paper we analyse the historical evolution of the scientific discipline of agroecology with a quantitative bibliometric analysis of 711 publications using the term agroecology and the derived term agroecological, as well as a qualitative analysis of definitions, topics and scales, where we also include further important works on agroecology. Agroecology emerged in the 1930s and the period up until the 1960s was the initial phase of agroecology. During the 1970s and 1980s, agroecology as a science expanded, and in the 1990s became institutionalized and consolidated. Since the 2000s, broader definitions have provided the basis for new dimensions in agroecology. During the last two decades the range of topics treated within agroecology grew enormously; also the publication rate has exploded within the last 10 years. The scale and dimension of scientific research in agroecology has changed over the past 80 years from the plot or field scale to the farm or agroecosystem scale and finally to the food system. Currently, three approaches persist: (1) the plot/field scale; (2) the agroecosystem/farm scale; and (3) the food system approach. In spite of a vague utilization of the term agroecology through its different meanings and definitions, the new views and dimensions brought to agroecology as a scientific discipline will probably facilitate efforts to respond to actual important questions on sustainable agriculture, global land use and climate change, or food security, due to increasingly applied systems thinking and interdisciplinary research approaches.

Reduced tillage is increasingly promoted to improve sustainability and productivity of agricultural systems. Nonetheless, adoption of reduced tillage by organic farmers has been slow due to concerns about nutrient supply, soil structure, and weeds that may limit yields. Here, we compiled the results from both published and unpublished research comparing deep or shallow inversion tillage, with various categories of reduced tillage under organic management. Shallow refers to less than 25 cm. We found that (1) division of reduced tillage practices into different classes with varying degrees of intensity allowed us to assess the trade-offs between reductions in tillage intensity, crop yields, weed incidence, and soil C stocks. (2) Reducing tillage intensity in organic systems reduced crop yields by an average of 7.6 % relative to deep inversion tillage with no significant reduction in yield relative to shallow inversion tillage. (3) Among the different classes of reduced tillage practice, shallow non-inversion tillage resulted in non-significant reductions in yield relative to deep inversion; whereas deep non-inversion tillage resulted in the largest yield reduction, of 11.6 %. (4) Using inversion tillage to only a shallow depth resulted in minimal reductions in yield, of 5.5 %, but significantly higher soil C stocks and better weed control. This finding suggests that this is a good option for organic farmers wanting to improve soil quality while minimizing impacts on yields. (5) Weeds were consistently higher, by about 50 %, when tillage intensity was reduced, although this did not always result in reduced yields.

Abstract Background The potential benefits of intercropping are manifold and have been repeatedly demonstrated. Intercropping has the potential to create more productive and resilient agroecosystems, by improving land utilisation, yield and yield stability, soil quality, and pest, disease and weed suppression. Despite these potential benefits, significant gaps remain in the understanding of ecological mechanisms that govern the outcomes when crop species are grown together. A major part of plant-plant interactions takes place belowground and these are often overlooked. Scope This review synthesises current evidence for belowground plant-plant interactions of competition, niche differentiation and facilitation, with the aim of identifying root traits that influence the processes contributing to enhanced performance of intercrops compared with monocultures. We identify a suite of potentially complementary root traits for maximising the benefits of intercropping. These traits underpin improved soil exploration, more efficient resource use, and suppression of soil-borne pathogens and pests in intercrops. Conclusion This review brings together understanding of the mechanisms underpinning interactions between intercropped roots, and how root traits and their plasticity can promote positive outcomes. Root trait ‘ideotypes’ for intercropped partners are identified that could be selected for crop improvement. We highlight the importance of examining belowground interactions and consider both spatial and temporal distribution of roots and rhizosphere mechanisms that aid complementarity through niche differentiation and facilitation. Breeding of crop ideotypes with specific beneficial root traits, combined with considerations for optimal spatio-temporal arrangement and ratios of component crops, are essential next steps to promote the adoption of intercropping as a sustainable farming practice.

BACKGROUND: Diverse assemblages of microbes colonize plant roots and collectively function as a microbiome. Earlier work has characterized the root microbiomes of numerous plant species, but little information is available for legumes despite their key role in numerous ecosystems including agricultural systems. Legumes form a root nodule symbiosis with nitrogen-fixing Rhizobia bacteria and thereby account for large, natural nitrogen inputs into soils. Here, we describe the root bacteria microbiome of the legume Trifolium pratense combining culture-dependent and independent methods. For a functional understanding of individual microbiome members and their impact on plant growth, we began to inoculate root microbiome members alone or in combination to Trifolium roots. RESULTS: At a whole-root scale, Rhizobia bacteria accounted for ~70% of the root microbiome. Other enriched members included bacteria from the genera Pantoea, Sphingomonas, Novosphingobium, and Pelomonas. We built a reference stock of 200 bacteria isolates, and we found that they corresponded to ~20% of the abundant root microbiome members. We developed a microcosm system to conduct simplified microbiota inoculation experiments with plants. We observed that while an abundant root microbiome member reduced plant growth when inoculated alone, this negative effect was alleviated if this Flavobacterium was co-inoculated with other root microbiome members. CONCLUSIONS: The Trifolium root microbiome was dominated by nutrient-providing Rhizobia bacteria and enriched for bacteria from genera that may provide disease protection. First microbiota inoculation experiments indicated that individual community members can have plant growth compromising activities without being apparently pathogenic, and a more diverse root community can alleviate plant growth compromising activities of its individual members. A trait-based characterization of the reference stock bacteria will permit future microbiota manipulation experiments to decipher overall microbiome functioning and elucidate the biological mechanisms and interactions driving the observed effects. The presented reductionist experimental approach offers countless opportunities for future systematic and functional examinations of the plant root microbiome.

There is ongoing debate among stakeholders about the future development of agricultural and food systems to meet the global challenges of food supply, biological and cultural diversity, climate change, and social justice. Among other options, agroecology and organic agriculture are discussed. Both have similar goals and use a systems approach; however, they are recognised and received differently by stakeholders. Here we review and compare principles and practices defined and described in EU organic agriculture regulations, International Federation of Organic Agricultural Movement (IFOAM) norms, and agroecology scientific literature. The main finding are as follows: (1) Regarding principles, EU organic regulations mainly focus on appropriate design and management of biological processes based on ecological systems, restriction of external inputs, and strict limitation of chemical inputs. IFOAM principles are very broad and more complete, and include a holistic and systemic vision of sustainability. Agroecology has a defined set of principles for the ecological management of agri-food systems, which also includes some socio-economic principles.

By leveraging a wide range of novel, data-driven technologies for agricultural production and agri-food value chains, digital agriculture presents potential enhancements to sustainability across food systems. Accordingly, digital agriculture has received considerable attention in policy in recent years, with emphasis mostly placed on the potential of digital agriculture to improve efficiency, productivity and food security, and less attention given to how digitalization may impact other principles of sustainable development, such as biodiversity conservation, soil protection, and human health, for example. Here, we review high-level policy and law in the German and European context to highlight a number of important institutional, societal, and legal preconditions for leveraging digital agriculture to achieve diverse sustainability targets. Additionally, we combine foresight analysis with our review to reflect on how future frame conditions influencing agricultural digitalization and sustainability could conceivably arise. The major points are the following: (1) some polices consider the benefits of digital agriculture, although only to a limited extent and mostly in terms of resource use efficiency; (2) law as it applies to digital agriculture is emerging but is highly fragmented; and (3) the adoption of digital agriculture and if it is used to enhance sustainability will be dependent on future data ownership regimes. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13593-022-00792-6.

The consumption of omega-3 fatty acids provides a wide range of health benefits. However, the incorporation of these fatty acids in foods is limited because of their high oxidative instability. A new paradigm has emerged to better explain the oxidation mechanism of polyunsaturated fatty acids, which will be discussed here with reference to bulk lipids considered a special case of water in oil microemulsion. This paradigm suggests that lipid oxidation reactions are initiated by heterogeneous catalysis by metal oxides followed by the formation of micelles containing initial hydroperoxides, water, and other amphiphilic compounds. The induction period comes to the end when the formed micelles reach a critical micelle concentration and start to decompose opening the way to intense free radical reactions. Antioxidants and synergists extend the induction period not only by scavenging free radicals but also by stabilizing the micelles. With better understanding of the lipid oxidation mechanism, a tailored choice of antioxidants and synergistic combinations, and efficient encapsulation methods may be optimized to provide stable encapsulates containing highly n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids. Smart processing and encapsulation technologies utilizing properly stabilized oils as well as optimized packaging parameters aiming to enhance n-3 fatty acid stability by smart selection/design of antioxidants, control of the interfacial physics and chemistry, and elimination of surface oil are needed for this purpose.

Edible films with essential oils (EOs) are becoming increasingly popular as an alternative to synthetic packaging due to their environmentally friendly properties and ability as carriers of active compounds. However, the required amounts of EOs to impart effective antimicrobial properties generally exceed the organoleptic acceptance levels. However, by nanoemulsifying EOs, it is possible to increase their antimicrobial activity while reducing the amount required. This review provides an overview of the physico-chemical and mechanical properties of polysaccharide-based edible films incorporated with EOs nanoemulsions and of their application to the preservation of different food types. By incorporating EOs nanoemulsions into the packaging matrix, these edible films can help to extend the shelf-life of food products while also improving the quality and safety of the food product during storage. It can be concluded that these edible films have the potential to be used in the food industry as a green, sustainable, and biodegradable method for perishable foods preservation.

Food packaging plays a fundamental role in the modern food industry as a main process to preserve the quality of food products from manufacture to consumption. New food packaging technologies are being developed that are formulated with natural compounds by substituting synthetic/chemical antimicrobial and antioxidant agents to fulfill consumers' expectations for healthy food. The strategy of incorporating natural antimicrobial compounds into food packaging structures is a recent and promising technology to reach this goal. Concepts such as "biodegradable packaging", "active packaging", and "bioactive packaging" currently guide the research and development of food packaging. However, the use of natural compounds faces some challenges, including weak stability and sensitivity to processing and storage conditions. The nano/microencapsulation of these bioactive compounds enhances their stability and controls their release. In addition, biodegradable packaging materials are gaining great attention in the face of ever-growing environmental concerns about plastic pollution. They are a sustainable, environmentally friendly, and cost-effective alternative to conventional plastic packaging materials. Ultimately, a combined formulation of nano/microencapsulated antimicrobial and antioxidant natural molecules, incorporated into a biodegradable food packaging system, offers many benefits by preventing food spoilage, extending the shelf life of food, reducing plastic and food waste, and preserving the freshness and quality of food. The main objective of this review is to illustrate the latest advances in the principal biodegradable materials used in the development of active antimicrobial and antioxidant packaging systems, as well as the most common nano/microencapsulated active natural agents incorporated into these food-packaging materials.

The development of sustainable agricultural and food systems is of significant importance considering the still-growing world population. For this, it is imperative to consider not only quantitative production issues, but also environmental issues such as water pollution, biodiversity loss, and land degradation as well as social and economic issues such as organization of supply chains and communication and coordination among stakeholders. However, the development of sustainable agricultural and food systems is so far almost exclusively proposed either at the scale of specific agricultural systems or for selected supply chains. Still strongly neglected is the development of sustainable systems at a territorial scale. We, therefore, present here the concept of agroecology territories. We define agroecology territories as places where a transition process toward sustainable agriculture and food systems is engaged. Three major domains must to be considered for the transition to take place: adaptation of agricultural practices; conservation of biodiversity and natural resources; and development of embedded food systems. Stakeholder group strategies, developed by those who actively engage in these three domains and are themselves actors in the transition, are integral to agroecology territories.

The global demand for safe and healthy food with minimal synthetic preservatives is continuously increasing. Natural food antimicrobials and especially essential oils (EOs) possess strong antimicrobial activities that could play a remarkable role as a novel source of food preservatives. Despite the excellent efficacy of EOs, they have not been widely used in the food industry due to some major intrinsic barriers, such as low water solubility, bioavailability, volatility, and stability in food systems. Recent advances in nanotechnology have the potential to address these existing barriers in order to use EOs as preservatives in food systems at low doses. Thus, in this review, we explored the latest advances of using natural actives as antimicrobial agents and the different strategies for nanoencapsulation used for this purpose. The state of the art concerning the antibacterial properties of EOs will be summarized, and the main latest applications of nanoencapsulated antimicrobial agents in food systems will be presented. This review should help researchers to better choose the most suitable encapsulation techniques and materials.

Abstract We review the need for increasing agricultural sustainability, how this can in part be delivered by positive biodiversity–ecosystem function (BEF) effects, the role within these of plant–plant facilitation, and how a better understanding of this role may help to deliver sustainable crop (particularly arable) production systems. Major challenges facing intensive arable production include overall declines in biodiversity, poor soil structure and health, nutrient and soil particle run‐off, high greenhouse gas emissions, and increasing costs of synthetic inputs including herbicides, pesticides and fertilisers. Biodiversity–ecosystem function effects have the potential to deliver win–wins for arable food production, whereby enhanced biodiversity is associated with ‘good outcomes’ for farming sustainability, albeit sometimes through negative BEF effects for some components of the system. Although it can be difficult to separate explicitly from niche differentiation, evidence indicates facilitation can be a key component of these BEF effects. Explicit recognition of facilitation's role brings benefits to developing sustainable crop systems. First, it allows us to link fundamental ecological studies on the evolution of facilitation to the selection of traits that can enhance functioning in crop mixtures. Second, it provides us with analytical frameworks which can be used to bring structure and testable hypotheses to data derived from multiple (often independent) crop trials. Before concrete guidance can be provided to the agricultural sector as to how facilitation might be enhanced in crop systems, challenges exist with respect to quantifying facilitation, understanding the traits that maximise facilitation and integrating these traits into breeding programmes, components of an approach we suggest could be termed ‘Functional Ecological Selection’. Synthesis . Ultimately, better integration between ecologists and crop scientists will be essential in harnessing the benefits of ecological knowledge for developing more sustainable agriculture. We need to focus on understanding the mechanistic basis of strong facilitative interactions in crop systems and using this information to select and breed for improved combinations of genotypes and species as part of the Functional Ecological Selection approach.

Cover cropping is developing in vineyards as it may induce numerous ecosystem services. However, soil cover also competes with grapevine for soil resources. This work aimed at evaluating both the period and intensity of the resulting water and nitrogen stress experienced by grapevine by comparing treatments with bare soil, permanent and non-permanent soil cover. The adopted stress indices were the Fraction of Transpirable Soil Water (FTSW) and the Nitrogen Nutrition Index (NNI). Cover cropping improved winter soil water refilling, but the grass transpiration during spring later led to similar water stress of grapevine among treatments. In dry years, summer water stress was not higher with non-permanent cover than with bare soil. The building of a critical nitrogen content curve for grapevine enabled to diagnose an early nitrogen stress, from budbreak to flowering, in cover cropped treatments. NNI dropped then in dry years, particularly in cover cropped treatments. The early growth limitation of grapevine observed in cover cropped treatments was the consequence of mild early nitrogen stress, which suggests that perennial nitrogen reserves were reduced because of an earlier competition with cover crop. After grapevine flowering, water appeared to be the most limiting factor for both grapevine growth and nitrogen availability. In water limited environment, nitrogen stress is highly dependant on water constraints. However, this work reveals the partial uncoupling of the dynamics of water and nitrogen stress during the grapevine cycle in water-limited cropping systems, which highlights the relevance of a co-ordinated management of water and nitrogen.

The interest for artificial meat has recently expanded. However, from the literature, perception of artificial meat in China is not well known. A survey was thus carried out to investigate Chinese attitudes toward artificial meat. The answers of 4666 respondents concluded that 19.9% and 9.6% of them were definitely willing and unwilling to try artificial meat respectively, whereas 47.2% were not willing to eat it regularly, and 87.2% were willing to pay less for it compared to conventional meat. Finally, 52.9% of them will accept artificial meat as an alternative to conventional meat. Emotional resistance such as the perception of “absurdity or disgusting” would lead to no willingness to eat artificial meat regularly. The main concerns were related to safety and unnaturalness, but less to ethical and environmental issues as in Western countries. Nearly half of the respondents would like artificial meat to be safe, tasty, and nutritional. Whereas these expectations have low effects on willingness to try, they may induce consumers’ rejection to eat artificial meat regularly, underlying the weak relationship between wishes to try and to eat regularly. Thus, potential acceptance of artificial meat in China depends on Chinese catering culture, perception of food and traditional philosophy.

With the aim of explaining the variations in microcystin (MC) concentrations during cyanobacterial blooms, we studied several Microcystis aeruginosa populations blooming in different freshwater ecosystems located in the same geographical area. As assessed by real-time PCR, it appeared that the potentially MC-producing cells (mcyB(+)) were predominant (70 to 100%) in all of these M. aeruginosa populations, with the exception of one population in which non-MC-producing cells always dominated. Apart from the population in the Grangent Reservoir, we found that the proportions of potentially MC-producing and non-MC-producing cells varied little over time, which was consistent with the fact that according to a previous study of the same populations, the intergenic transcribed spacer (ITS) genotype composition did not change (38). In the Grangent Reservoir, the MC-RR variant was the dominant microcystin variant throughout the bloom season, despite changes in the ITS composition and in the proportions of mcyB(+) cells. Finally, the variations in total MC concentrations (0.3 to 15 microg liter(-1)) and in the MC cellular quotas (0.01 to 3.4 pg cell(-1)) were high both between and within sites, and no correlation was found between the MC concentrations and the proportion of mcyB(+) cells. All of these findings demonstrate that very different results can be found for the proportions of potentially MC-producing and non-MC-producing cells and MC concentrations, even in M. aeruginosa populations living in more or less connected ecosystems, demonstrating the importance of the effect of very local environmental conditions on these parameters and also the difficulty of predicting the potential toxicity of Microcystis blooms.