Abstract Following a request from the European Commission, the EFSA Panel on Nutrition, Novel Foods and Food Allergens (NDA) was asked to deliver an opinion on water extract of Cistanche tubulosa stems as a novel food (NF) for its use in food supplements (FS) and foods for special medical purposes (FSMP). The target population is the general adult population excluding pregnant and lactating women. The applicant proposes a maximum daily intake of 2 g for FS and a maximum use level of 10% in FSMP. The characteristic components of the extract are phenylethanoid glycosides (at least 70% of the NF), in particular, echinacoside (25–45% of the NF). The NF has been authorised as a prescription drug in China in 2005 for the treatment of vascular dementia. The Panel notes that an integrated analysis of three studies covering 1,076 patients with vascular dementia treated with the proposed NF at a daily dose of 1,800 mg, reported that 12 adverse events (AEs) were classified to be ‘definitely’, ‘probably’ or ‘possibly related’ to the exposure to the NF. Two of these AE were classified as severe (cerebral haemorrhage and epilepsy). The Panel considers that the reported AEs raise safety concerns. The Panel also notes the limitations of the provided toxicological studies, in particular the non‐compliance with the EFSA approach on the genotoxicity testing strategy and the non‐compliance with good laboratory practice (GLP) and the respective OECD Guidance documents of the repeated dose toxicity studies. In view of the AEs in the human studies, the Panel considers that additional toxicological studies, following testing guidelines would not be able to overcome the concerns raised from the human studies. The Panel concludes that the safety of the NF has not been established.

A holistic approach to the management of water, energy, food, and the environment is required to both meet the socioeconomic demands of the future as well as sustainable development of these limited resources. The Urmia Lake Basin has faced environmental, social, and economic challenges in recent years, and this situation is likely to worsen under the impacts of climate change. For this study, an adaptability analysis of this region is proposed for the 2040 horizon year. Two models, the water evaluation and planning (WEAP (Stockholm Environmental Institute, Stockholm, Sweden)) and the low emissions analysis platform (LEAP (Stockholm Environmental Institute, Boston, MA, USA)), are integrated to simulate changes in water, energy, food, and the environment over these 20 years. Two climate scenarios and nine policy scenarios are combined to assess sustainable development using a multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) approach. Results show that, through pursuing challenging goals in agricultural, potable water, energy, and industrial sectors, sustainable development will be achieved. In this scenario, the Lake Urmia water level will reach its ecological water level in 2040. However, social, technical, and political challenges are considered obstacles to implementing the goals of this scenario. In addition, industry growth and industry structure adjustment have the most impact on sustainable development achievement.

Access to food, water, and good air quality is indispensable for human life, as reflected in various United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); however, pursuing food security may pose threats to water security and/or air quality. An important case is northwest India including the Punjab and Haryana states, which is the ‘breadbasket’ of India with a significantly increasing paddy rice area. The rapid expansion of rice farming has stressed groundwater resources and impacted air quality. Satellite observations have the potential to provide data for better decisions on food security, water storage, and air pollution, which would be vital for regional sustainable development. Based on observations from multiple satellites from 2001 to 2018, we found that paddy rice expansion (+22%) increased groundwater depletion (−1.50 cm/yr), residue burning (+500%), and air pollution (+29%, PM2.5) in the breadbasket of India. Moreover, satellite observations showed changes in these interactions after the enactment of a groundwater protection policy in 2009, which decelerated groundwater depletion (−1.20 cm/yr) due to delayed rice planting and harvest dates (∼15d); the latter elevated air pollution in November (+29%, PM2.5). Our finding stresses the need to reconcile the trade-offs and consider the interactions among SDGs 2 (food), 3 (good health), 6 (clean water), and 11 (air quality in cities), in policy-making for sustainable development. An efficient crop residue ultilization and management system, bottom-up groundwater use regulations, and cropping system shift towards less water-consuming crops are critically required to resolve the trade-offs of the food-water–air quality nexus in the northern India. Our study also showcases remote sensing approaches and methods to support and aid the achievement of the SDGs and track their progreses to support regional sustainable development.

The potential isolation of bio-active polysaccharides from bay tree pruning waste was studied using sequential subcritical water extraction using different time-temperature combinations. The extracted polysaccharides were highly enriched in pectins while preserving their high molecular mass (10–100 kDa), presenting ideal properties for its application as additive in food packaging. Pectin-enriched chitosan films were prepared, improving the optical properties (≥95% UV-light barrier capacity), antioxidant capacity (˃95% radical scavenging activity) and water vapor permeability (≤14 g·Pa⁻¹·s⁻¹·m⁻¹·10⁻⁷) in comparison with neat chitosan-based films. Furthermore, the antimicrobial activity of chitosan was maintained in the hybrid films. Addition of 10% of pectins improved mechanical properties, increasing the Young's modulus 12%, and the stress resistance in 51%. The application of pectin-rich fractions from bay tree pruning waste as an additive in active food packaging applications, with triple action as antioxidant, barrier, and antimicrobial has been demonstrated.

Groundwater is a precious freshwater resource heavily relied upon by agricultural activities in many parts of the world, and especially by countries with limited water resources located in arid regions. Groundwater resources are under severe pressures due to population increase, urbanisation and socio-economic development, with potential for causing long-term threats to human life and natural ecosystems. This study attempts to investigate the impacts of local and regional climatic trends, and establish key forcing functions that have changed local groundwater resources. The main questions answered through this study include: Are these changes beneficial or detrimental? If they are detrimental, what is the future outlook for impacts on the ecosystem? What are the corrective actions needed to avert the long-term risks in arid environments? In view of this, the methodology developed in this study focuses on a joint time-series statistical analysis using ground data as well as Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellite data. Results show a substantial depletion in the groundwater thickness (0.24 ± 0.20 cm/year) during the period of observation (2002–2020). Long-term temperature data indicates that the annual mean temperature increased significantly by 1.02 °C between 1987 and 2016, while total rainfall exhibited a slight decreasing trend. In addition to groundwater extraction, fluctuations in monthly rainfall, soil moisture, evapotranspiration and relative humidity support the groundwater thickness reduction of GRACE datasets. The use of desalinated water and wastewater reuse in the agriculture sector may reduce the pressure on groundwater resources. Optimization, adaptation and mitigation in the EWF nexus will further improve the sustainability of the EWF resources.

The water–energy–food (WEF) nexus has emerged as a frontier issue in interdisciplinary research and is one of the most complex sustainability challenges that the world is faced with today. In this review, we ask: (i) how can the interdependent relationships among water, energy, and food resources be identified? (ii) what methods have been applied to understand these relationships? and (iii) what are the future opportunities and challenges for the WEF nexus development? To answer these questions, we provide a critical assessment of the relevant literature from Web of Science database on WEF nexus published between 2008 and 2019 using a bibliometric analysis. Using the resulting 396 published articles, we systematically reviewed the concept and the bibliometric characteristics of the WEF nexus research to assess the development footprint. Based on the most popular topics and research methods found in these publications, we discussed the major research limitations as well as future opportunities and challenges for WEF research. An examination of internal and external relationships among topics showed that the three most recent hot areas of WEF nexus research include (i) water, energy, and food, (ii) policy-making and resource management, and (iii) system models and methods. Specifically, considering that no one method can solve all problems, we innovatively summarized the application scope and the advantages and disadvantages of each method, with a particular focus on the WEF nexus models. This was undertaken to support readers in choosing a scientific method to analyze the specific WEF nexus related issues. We anticipate that complex interdependence mechanisms, data uncertainty, analytical model development, and in-depth policy implementation will pose the greatest challenges for future WEF nexus research; however, these challenges will also generate better research opportunities. This bibliometric review highlights that to increase understanding of complex WEF systems and formulating optimal strategies to manage them is of great significance for environmental and social sustainability.

Ensuring food security in China is the primary task in solving the problems of ‘agriculture, countryside, and farmers’. Based on Chinese provincial panel data from 2009 to 2018, this paper evaluates the impact of a water rights trading pilot policy (WRTPP) on food security and examines its underlying mechanism. To overcome the estimation bias existing in previous studies, we use the difference-in-differences method, which can separate time effects from policy treatment effects and is an effective tool to compare the effect before and after policy implementation. We, therefore, use this method to evaluate the net effect of the WRTPP on food security. It is found that the WRTPP can help ensure food security. This effect reaches its maximum in the fourth year after the policy's implementation. It is further found that the WRTPP can improve the adoption of agricultural water-saving irrigation technology to increase the grain yield. Our conclusions complement existing evidence on the factors influencing food security. From the perspective of improving farmers’ water-saving irrigation technology, we confirm that the mechanism of the water rights trading pilot policy helps ensure food security. HIGHLIGHTS Water rights trading pilot policy can help guarantee food security.; The policy help guarantee food security by improving the adoption of water-saving irrigation technology.; This effect reaches its maximum in the fourth year after the implementation of the policy.; The policy will have a long-term effect on helping guaranteeing food security.; The research does not violate the parallel trend assumption of the difference-in-differences method.;

A holistic approach to the management of water, energy, food, and the environment is required to both meet the socioeconomic demands of the future as well as sustainable development of these limited resources. The Urmia Lake Basin has faced environmental, social, and economic challenges in recent years, and this situation is likely to worsen under the impacts of climate change. For this study, an adaptability analysis of this region is proposed for the 2040 horizon year. Two models, the water evaluation and planning (WEAP (Stockholm Environmental Institute, Stockholm, Sweden)) and the low emissions analysis platform (LEAP (Stockholm Environmental Institute, Boston, MA, USA)), are integrated to simulate changes in water, energy, food, and the environment over these 20 years. Two climate scenarios and nine policy scenarios are combined to assess sustainable development using a multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) approach. Results show that, through pursuing challenging goals in agricultural, potable water, energy, and industrial sectors, sustainable development will be achieved. In this scenario, the Lake Urmia water level will reach its ecological water level in 2040. However, social, technical, and political challenges are considered obstacles to implementing the goals of this scenario. In addition, industry growth and industry structure adjustment have the most impact on sustainable development achievement.

Pesticide and agrochemical residues in food and water are among hazardous chemicals that are associated with adverse health effects. Consequently, technologies for pesticide abatement in food and water remain in focus. Cold plasma is an emerging decontamination technology, that is being increasingly explored for the abatement of agrochemical and pesticide residue in food and water. In some cases, rapid and complete degradation of pesticide residues has come to light. Such promising results encourage exploring scale-up and commercialization. To achieve this, unraveling mechanisms involved in plasma decontamination and the nature of degradation products is needed. The present review identifies the mechanisms involved in plasma- assisted removal of pesticide residues from food and water, draws parallels with mechanism of ozone and ultraviolet technologies, investigates the chemistry of the intermediates and degradates, and identifies some future research needs. The review recognizes that mechanisms involved in plasma processes have overlapping similarities to those identified for ozone and ultraviolet light, involving oxidation by hydroxyl radical and photo-oxidation. The toxicity of intermediates and degradates in plasma processing have not received much attention. The safety aspects of end products form plasma led degradation of pesticides should be considered for practical exploitation. Identification of intermediates and degradation products, recognition of most potent plasma species, understanding the influence of co-existing entities, the energy efficiency of plasma reactors, and the process economics deserve research focus.

The objective was to evaluate the effect of the inclusion of water in the conventional feed in pigs, 24 Landrace breed pigs were used, with a distribution of treatments in a DCA design, these being: T0: inclusion of 0% of water in the feed; T1: inclusion of 25% of water in the food; T2: inclusion of 50% of water in the food. The variables to be measured were: initial, weekly and final weight; weekly and final weight gain; feed conversion; food consumption; dorsal size and chest width; cortisol (stress) tests and weekly weight gain / cortisol levels. The results obtained were: in the final weight (p> 0.05) the T2 stood out (43.85 ± 0.64). Weight gain (p> 0.05), a higher average was obtained at T0 (31.60 ± 0.17). Food consumption (p> 0.05) stood out on T1 (46.15 ± 0.15). While, the final feed conversion (p> 0.05) was T0 (1.45 ± 0.01). In the measurement of dorsal height and chest width (p> 0.05) there was a higher average in T2 (89.75 ± 0.60 and 89.88 ± 0.66). On the other hand, in baseline cortisol levels (p> 0.05), the highest average was highlighted in T0 (15.80 ± 11.49) and in the weight gain / cortisol levels relationship there were atypical data that could be attributed to stress. It is concluded that the inclusion of water in the traditional feed in pigs in the rearing stage does not disfavor the productive variables, however. | El objetivo fue evaluar el efecto de la inclusión de agua en el alimento convencional en cerdos, se utilizó 24 cerdos de raza Landrace, con una distribución de tratamientos en un diseño DCA, siendo estos: T0: inclusión de 0% de agua en el alimento; T1: inclusión de 25% de agua en el alimento; T2: inclusión de 50% de agua en el alimento. Las variables a medir fueron: peso inicial, semanal y final; ganancia de peso semanal y final; conversión alimenticia; consumo de alimento; talla dorsal y ancho del pecho; exámenes de cortisol (estrés) y relación ganancia de peso semanal/niveles de cortisol. Los resultados obtenidos fueron: en el peso final (p>0,05) se destacó el T2 (43,85 ± 0,64). La ganancia de peso (p>0,05), se obtuvo un mayor promedio en el T0 (31,60 ± 0,17). El consumo de alimento (p>0,05) se destacó el T1 (46,15 ± 0,15). Mientras que, la conversión alimenticia final (p>0,05) el T0 (1,45 ± 0,01). En la medición de talla dorsal y ancho del pecho (p>0,05) hubo mayor promedio en el T2 (89,75 ± 0,60 y 89,88 ± 0,66). Por otra parte, en los niveles basales de cortisol (p>0,05) se destacó el promedio más alto en el T0 (15,80 ± 11,49) y en la relación ganancia de peso/niveles de cortisol hubo datos atípicos que podrían atribuirse al estrés. Se concluye que la inclusión de agua en el alimento tradicional en cerdos en etapa de levante no desfavorece las variables productivas.