The main limiting factor impeding the operationalisation of the WEF nexus has been lack of metrics and tools to translate the concept into a fully-fledged operational framework to support policy and decision-making. This study developed a WEF nexus model by (i) defining WEF nexus sustainability indicators, and (ii) calculating composite indices for those indicators to establish numerical relationships among WEF nexus resources using South Africa as a case study. The composite indices show WEF nexus performance as well as monitoring and evaluation of WEF resources management. The indicators were integrated through the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) in a multicriteria decision-making (MCDM). The established quantitative relationships indicate resource utilisation, management and performance through a spider graph to illustrate WEF nexus performance, providing a general overview of the level of interactions, interrelationships and inter-connectedness of resources. The shape of the spider graph is determined by the level of the interdependencies and interactions among the WEF nexus sectors, whose management is viewed either as sustainable or unsustainable depending on the classification of the developed integrated index. The spider graph for South Africa showed an over-emphasis on food self-sufficiency and water productivity at the expense of other sectors. The deformed shape of the spider graph is a demonstration of the sectoral or �??silo�?� approach in resource management. The calculated integrated WEF nexus index of 0.203 for South Africa classified the country under the low sustainability category. The developed model is a decision support tool that provides evidence for interventions in priority areas. The model demonstrates the capabilities of the WEF nexus to evaluate synergies and trade-offs in a systematic and integrated way to increases efficiency and productivity in resource management for sustainable development | Luxon Nhamo, T. Mabhaudhi, S. Mpandeli, 'A model to integrate and assess water-energy-food nexus performance: South Africa case study', pp.10p, 2020

Yamato Tachibana (Tachibana; Citrus tachibana) is an endemic fruit and represents one of the oldest citrus species in Japan; it is grown in the Mie Prefecture. It has been attracting attention for its cultural heritage and unique scent. To evaluate biological activities of Tachibana, we fed several parts of the Tachibana fruit (whole fruit, pulp [albedo and segment wall], and flavedo) to adult zebrafish and found that Tachibana increased body weight and plasma triglycerides besides increasing overall food intake. We then created a simple fluorescence-based feeding assay using dried rotifer sheets and larval zebrafish (6 days postfertilization) to screen the various extracts of Tachibana parts. We found that water extracts of Tachibana pulp increased feeding volume in zebrafish. Although citrus species are believed to prevent obesity and obesity-associated diseases in general, our findings showed that water extracts of Tachibana increase food intake in zebrafish and lead to an increase in body weight. We suggest that Tachibana might reverse appetite loss in lean populations and may prove beneficial in aiding fish cultivation.

The global COVID-19 pandemic during 2020 has led to the infection of 25 million people, causing deaths to 850000 and a serious economic crisis. Despite the fact that due to the pandemic economic growth and production was decreased, leading to a decrease in pollution in general, some specific pollution have emerged as a result of efforts to fight COVID-19. In such situation water can be waived as means of enabling hygienic conditions and raw material for industry, while at the other side wastewater can be assumed as a media for infection spreading. In this context, food production, considering it from field to shelf, food can be affected and contaminated. Risk occurs when contaminated water is used for food production, or when people engaged in production are proven to be infected. Therefore, special care has to be taken respecting safety measures during drinking water preparation and food production, as well as conducting proper wastewater treatment.

The widespread uncertainty regarding future changes in climate, socioeconomic conditions, and population growth have increased interest in water-energy-food-ecology nexus-based frameworks in relation to the analysis of water resources. A challenge for modeling the water-energy-food-ecology nexus is how to reduce the multidimensional and codependent uncertainties and measure the complicated casual relationships effectively. We propose a methodological solution to the problem, and this solution is demonstrated in this case as an extension to the previous water resource optimization framework. We coupled the water-energy-food-ecology nexus into the Bayesian network, which provides a formal representation of the joint probabilistic behavior of the system, and the method was applied to water resource use analysis and management in the Syr Darya River basin, a transboundary and endorheic basin that has contributed to the Aral Sea ecological crisis as a result of unreasonable water use. The annual scale data of four periods, 1970–1980, 1980–1991, 1991–2005, and 2005–2015, were introduced into the Bayesian network. Before the disintegration of the Soviet Union, the amount of water inflow into the Aral Sea was sensitive to increases in irrigation for agricultural development, increases in water storage of the upstream reservoirs and stochastic runoff. After the disintegration of the Soviet Union, the amount of water inflow into the Aral Sea was sensitive to the inefficient irrigation water use in the downstream areas of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan and the water storage of the reservoir located upstream of Kyrgyzstan. The change resulted from unresolvable disputes between water use for power generation in the upstream area and irrigation in the downstream area. Comprehensive scenario analysis shows that, in the short term, it would be useful to improve the proportion of food crops, improve the efficiency of water use in relation to salt leaching and irrigation, and prevent drought damage. In the long term, based on the increased use of advanced drip irrigation technology from 50% to 80%, the annual inflow into the Aral Sea will increase significantly, reaching 6.4 km³ and 9.6 km³, respectively, and this technology is capable of ameliorating the ecological crisis within the basin.

El paradigma occidental hegemónico que guía la forma de producción agroindustrial ha alimentado una cultura que desprecia la vida y adora el dinero, mientras que los pueblos milenarios afrodescendientes promueven una cultura que defiende la vida y los territorios, encarnados en la oralidad y el carácter memorioso de su cultura y saberes propios como es el caso de las personas mayores integrantes de las familias que habitan en la Vereda Agua Azul del municipio de Villa Rica en el departamento del Cauca, Colombia, que aún conservan tradiciones ancestrales relacionadas con la agricultura. Por lo que este proyecto se ocupó de recuperar estos saberes relacionados con la agricultura familiar , como forma concreta de salvaguardar la soberanía alimentaria y la permanencia de las comunidades en los territorios; de esta manera por medio de un método de Investigación Acción Participativa se llega a la conclusión que las huertas familiares son una herramienta importante para recuperar y conservar los conocimientos milenarios que han sido olvidados a causa de la ferocidad de la cultura occidental. | The hegemonic Western paradigm that guides the form of agro-industrial production has generated a culture that despises life and adores money, while Afro-descendant peoples inhabit a culture that defends life and territories embodied in orality and the memory character of the own culture. This research dealt with recovering these ancestral knowledge related to family agriculture in the Agua Azul village of the municipality of Villa Rica in the department of Cauca, Colombia, as a concrete way to safeguard food sovereignty and the permanence of the communities in the territories; by means of a Participatory Action Research method, the conclusion is reached that family gardens are an important tool to recover the ancient knowledge that has been forgotten due to the ferocity of Western culture.

Thyme oil in water nanomulsion was prepared under subcritical water conditions using water and saponin, as solvent and emulsifier, respectively. Gas chromatography revealed that there were 44 bioactive components in the extracted thyme essential oil which, thymol and carvacrol were two mains of them. Experiments were designed based on central composite design and effects of amounts of saponin and thyme essential oil were evaluated on particle size, polydispersity index (PDI) and zeta potential of the prepared nanoemulsions using response surface methodology. Obtained results revealed that more desirable thyme oil nanoemulsions with minimum particle size (184.51 nm) and PDI (0.514), and maximum zeta potential (− 22.51 mV) were prepared using 0.94 g of saponin and 0.28 mL of thyme essential oil. Furthermore, results indicated that prepared nanoemulsion using obtained optimum production conditions had relatively high antioxidant activity (24%) and high antibacterial and antifungal activities against Staphylococcus aureus and Penicillium digitatum.

Billions of people globally, living with various degrees of water insecurity, obtain their household and drinking water from diverse sources that can absorb a disproportionate amount of a household's income. In theory, there are income and expenditure thresholds associated with effective mitigation of household water insecurity, but there is little empirical research about these mechanisms and thresholds in low- and middle-income settings. This study used data from 3655 households from 23 water-insecure sites in 20 countries to explore the relationship between cash water expenditures (measured as a Z-score, percent of income, and Z-score of percent of income) and a household water insecurity score, and whether income moderated that relationship. We also assessed whether water expenditures moderated the relationships between water insecurity and both food insecurity and perceived stress. Using tobit mixed effects regression models, we observed a positive association between multiple measures of water expenditures and a household water insecurity score, controlling for demographic characteristics and accounting for clustering within neighborhoods and study sites. The positive relationships between water expenditures and water insecurity persisted even when adjusted for income, while income was independently negatively associated with water insecurity. Water expenditures were also positively associated with food insecurity and perceived stress. These results underscore the complex relationships between water insecurity, food insecurity, and perceived stress and suggest that water infrastructure interventions that increase water costs to households without anti-poverty and income generation interventions will likely exacerbate experiences of household water insecurity, especially for the lowest-income households.

As three resources that are necessary for human survival and production, water, energy and food are increasingly closely linked. In recent years, the water-energy-food nexus has attracted special attention from international organizations and academic circles. However, due to the lack of research on its internal mechanisms, there is still controversy on whether the water-energy-food nexus can be used as a new policy basis. The internal mechanisms of the water-energy-food nexus were analysed from the perspective of industrial linkages in this paper and empirically verified by constructing an SVAR (structuralvectorautoregression) model using China’s data. The results showed that there were two forms of conduction in China’s water-energy-food nexus: the water-energy-food nexus with nuclear power participation and that with natural gas participation. The characteristics of China’s water-energy-food nexus were derived. For the interactions of the water-energy segment in China’s water-energy-food nexus, the conduction from energy to water was consistent for different types of energy, while that from water to energy varied depending on the type of energy. Food production always had a negative impact on energy production, while the conduction from energy to food varied for different types of energy. The conduction between food and the water supply was not as significant as was generally considered. Especially, the impact of the water supply on food production was weak. The order of strength intensity and the duration were also available for reference. Accordingly, a new policy basis was presented under the framework of China’s water-energy-food nexus. Both our research design and research findings are significant in contributing to understanding the internal mechanisms of the water-energy-food nexus, and the policy implications are also helpful for achieving better policy effects.

Gels are viscoelastic systems built up with a liquid phase entrapped in a three-dimensional network, which can behave as carriers for bioactive food ingredients. Many attempts have been made to design gel structures in the water phase (hydrogels, emulsion gels, bigels) or oil phase (organogels, bigels) in order to improve their delivery performances. Hydrogels are originated from proteins or polysaccharides, which are suitable for the delivery of hydrophilic ingredients. Organogels are mainly built up with the self-assembling of gelator molecules in the oil phase, and they offer good carriers for lipophilic ingredients. Emulsion gels and bigels, containing both aqueous and oil domains, can provide accommodations for lipophilic and hydrophilic ingredients simultaneously. Gel structures (e.g. rheology, texture, water holding capacity, swelling ratio) can be modulated by choosing different gelators, modifying gelation techniques, and the involvement of other ingredients (e.g. oils, emulsifiers, minerals, acids), which then alter the diffusion and release of the bioactive ingredients incorporated. Various studies have proved that gel-based delivery systems are able to improve the stability and bioavailability of many bioactive food ingredients. This review provides a state-to-art overview of different gel-based delivery systems, highlighting the significance of structure–functionality relationship, to provide advanced knowledge for the design of novel functional foods.

Motivated by the increasing need for new solutions with less environmental impact, in this work we have investigated the benefits of depositing a wheat gluten (WG) coating on paperboard substrates intended for food packaging applications. To overcome the inherent moisture sensitivity of this protein, WG was combined with a silica network obtained by sol-gel chemistry. WG/silica hybrid coatings were characterized in terms of structural, thermal, morphological, surface, and water vapor barrier properties. Spectrometric analysis demonstrated that the organic and inorganic phases interacted primarily through hydrogen bonding. This was also supported by thermal experiments, which revealed a higher Tg measured for the hybrid materials with the higher silica content (114 ± 1 °C and 128 ± 2 °C, respectively) compared to the pure WG material (Tg = 89 ± 1 °C). Scanning electron microscopy showed that the surfaces of the coatings were very smooth, though the presence of pinholes, cracks, fractures, and voids was detected, especially for the silica-rich formulations. Upon deposition of the coatings, the wettability of the bare paperboard increased, as demonstrated by the lower water contact angle values. In addition, hybrid coatings exhibited a higher wettability over the pristine WG coating, which was due to a more intense spreading phenomenon. The deposition of the coatings led to a ∼ 4-fold reduction in water vapor transmission rate (WVTR ∼ 90 g m⁻² 24 h⁻¹ at 23 °C and 65% relative humidity) of the specific cellulosic substrate tested in this work (WVTR ∼ 350 g m⁻² 24⁻¹).