GC051-0003
Evaluating Sustainability of Fresh and Processed Potato and Tomato Products

Thursday, 10 December 2020
Poster
Ranjan Parajuli, University of Arkansas, Ralph E. Martin Department of Chemical Engineering, Fayetteville, AR, United States, Marty Matlock, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR, United States and Greg J Thoma, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, United States
Abstract:
A life cycle assessment (LCA) method was used to evaluate environmental footprints of potato products (fresh, chips, frozen fries and dehydrated) and tomato (fresh and pasta sauce). Functional unit (FU) was 1 kg product eaten, at consumer stage. Life Cycle inventory for the agriculture systems covered the crop reporting districts (CRDs), capturing the 80% of total US production. Crop yields, nutrients uptakes and irrigation water requirements were simulated using mechanistic crop models. Environmental footprints of the fresh and processed products showed mixed results, e.g. consuming 1 kg fresh potatoes (fried in oil) had higher greenhouse gas emissions (GHGEs) compared to consuming the same amount of potato-chips and dehydrated product (0.97 vs 0.85 and 0.65 kg CO2-eq/FU). GHGEs for potato-frozen fries (deep fried at consumer) was highest among the potato products (1.21 kg CO2-eq/FU). Likewise, in the order of fresh vs chips vs fries vs dehydrated products, fossil resource scarcity (FRS) was 0.25 kg oil-eq. vs. 0.22, 0.31 and 0.22; fresh water eutrophication (FEP) was also higher in processed products (3.11*10-4 vs 2.69*10-4, 2.83*10-4 and 2.33*10-4 kg P-eq/kg product(s)); water consumption (WC) was fairly same (e.g. 0.093 vs. 0.099, 0.11 and 0.096 m3/FU). For tomato products, GHGEs was about 2 times higher in sauce than for the fresh (sauce = 1.5 kg CO2-eq/FU). FRS for fresh and processed tomatoes was 0.24 and 0.51 kg oil-eq/FU respectively, FEP (3.08*10-4 vs 4.46*10-4 kg P-eq/FU) and WC (0.03 vs. 0.18 m3/FU). Management of biowaste and co-products credited the impacts, e.g. GHGEs was reduced by 9-14% for the processed potato products (Fig 1). Environmental impacts were largely determined by the resources use at processing and during the food preparation at consumer stage. Example, instead of deep frying, consuming oven-heated fries can reduce GHGEs by 19%. A 10% reduction of the waste can reduce GHGEs and WC by 1-3% for the selected products. Exclusion of the secondary and tertiary packaging materials can lower the GHGEs by 4% and 4-13% respectively for fresh and processed potato products; and for fresh and processed tomatoes it was respectively 10% and 1% lower. Hence, environmental mitigation opportunities were associated with optimization of logistics, waste reduction and efficient use of resources.
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