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Agricultural Product and Food Distribution Engineering Lab
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A lab that studies the quality of agricultural products after harvest to reduce food loss.
AboutAbout the lab
Applying science to the future of food.
The Agricultural Product and Food Distribution Engineering Lab aims to establish "postharvest engineering," a field that designs quality, safety, and efficiency together across the distribution of agricultural products and food from harvest to consumption.
The lab investigates the mechanisms by which quality deteriorates and combines this with analysis using digital twins and data, working to create next-generation cold chain technologies that can be used in real-world distribution.
Its research spans a wide range, from the microscopic world of cells in fresh produce to global logistics networks.
In collaboration with organizations such as JICA, the lab is also conducting demonstration studies on fresh produce distribution in Africa.
Key terms
- Postharvest
- A term referring to the changes that occur in agricultural products after harvest, and to their handling, including storage, transport, and processing
- Digital twin
- A technology that reproduces on a computer the temperature changes and quality changes that occur in real-world transport
- Hydrogel
- A gel-like material that contains a large amount of water. In this lab, it is used for packaging films
NewsLab news
Proposed research guidelines for next-generation food packaging with AI and self-healing functions (press release)
A master's student received the Excellent Presentation Award from the Japan Society of Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers
Paper: a paper by an international research fellow was accepted by Chemical Engineering Journal
Paper: a paper by a doctoral student was accepted by Food Bioscience
ResearchResearch themes
Because the quality of agricultural products begins to change the moment they are harvested, the lab scientifically elucidates the phenomena that occur after harvest (postharvest) and works to build next-generation food distribution systems that achieve quality, safety, and efficiency at a high level simultaneously. By combining AI, digital twins, advanced materials, and sensing technologies, the lab aims to reduce food loss and help realize a sustainable society.
*Illustrative imageDiagnosing the cells of fresh produce with digital technology
The lab is working to create a new academic field, "Digital Fruitcellology," that focuses on the cells of fruits and vegetables. By combining X-ray CT, AI, and other tools, it aims to diagnose the health of cell tissue, visualize ripening and deterioration, and predict shelf life.
*Illustrative imageIntelligent food packaging
The lab believes that future packaging will be more than just a container: it will become an "intelligent platform" that examines the condition of food and detects loss of freshness, while AI predicts quality changes and communicates the information to consumers. Its research is built around this idea.
*Illustrative imageSelf-healing freshness indicator films
The lab is developing smart hydrogel films that repair themselves when the packaging material is damaged and change color as food spoils. They are expected to make freshness visible and to help reduce food loss.
*Illustrative imageFrom food waste to high-performance packaging materials
The lab produces high-performance nanomaterials from unused biomass such as pumpkin peel and applies them to packaging materials with a low environmental impact. It is an effort to turn what would be thrown away into a resource and to help realize a circular society.
MembersFaculty
- ProfessorFumihiko Tanaka
- Associate ProfessorFumina Tanaka
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Report an errorAbout the images
The top and research theme images are illustrative and were not taken at the lab. They are cropped from Wikimedia Commons images. Cropped CC BY-SA images are provided under the same CC BY-SA license as the original (version shown on each line).
- Top image: “HK apples fruit net packaging materials” Hinghungroubs / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Diagnosing the cells of fresh produce with digital technology: “Apple slices, 2013 (01)” cogdogblog (Alan Levine) / CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
- Intelligent food packaging: “Food lab scientist packages food for spaceflight at Space Food Lab” Bill Stafford / Public domain (cropped)
- Self-healing freshness indicator films: “Eriochrome Black T indicator color change” LHcheM / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- From food waste to high-performance packaging materials: “Wine Shipper in fungal products by Mycobond” mycobond / CC BY-SA 2.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (フードシステム学): “Western Wholesale Food Market 2” Minghong / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
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