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REVIEW article

Front. Food. Sci. Technol.
Sec. Food Process Design and Engineering
Volume 4 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/frfst.2024.1448148
This article is part of the Research Topic Recent Knowledge on the Applications of Molecular Hydrogen in Plant Physiology, Crop Production, and Food Processing View all 4 articles

Molecular Hydrogen: A Sustainable Strategy For Agricultural and Food Production Challenges

Provisionally accepted
Duried Alwazeer Duried Alwazeer 1*John Hancock John Hancock 2Grace Russell Grace Russell 2Alexandros Stratakos Alexandros Stratakos 2Longna Li Longna Li 3Ayhan ÇİĞDEM Ayhan ÇİĞDEM 1Tunahan Engin Tunahan Engin 1Tyler W. LeBaron Tyler W. LeBaron 4
  • 1 Iğdır Üniversitesi, Iğdır, Türkiye
  • 2 University of the West of England, Bristol, England, United Kingdom
  • 3 Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China
  • 4 Southern Utah University, Cedar City, Utah, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The world is confronting numerous challenges, including global warming, health epidemics, and population growth, each presenting significant threats to the stability and sustainability of our planet's ecosystems. Such issues have collectively contributed to a reduction in agricultural productivity, corresponding with an increase in demand and costs of essential commodities. This critical situation requires more sustainable environmental, social, and technological solutions. Molecular hydrogen (H2) has been suggested as a "green" solution for our energy needs and many health, agricultural, and food applications. H2 supplementation in agriculture may represent a novel and low-carbon biotechnological strategy applicable to the abundant production of crops, vegetables, and fruits in agri-food chains. H2 is a potential green alternative to conventional chemical fertilizers. The use of a hydrogen-rich water irrigation system may also provide other health-related advantages, i.e., decreasing the heavy metal accumulation in crops. By adopting a H₂ strategy, crop producers, food processors, and decision-makers can contribute to sustainable solutions in the face of global challenges such as climate change, communicable disease epidemics, and a growing population. The versatile applications of H₂ in agriculture and the wider food industry position it as a uniquely suitable approach to address today's significant challenges, potentially fostering better crop production and positively impacting the agri-food chain. The present review is timely in combining the latest knowledge about the potential applications of H₂ in the agriculture and food industry, from farm to fork.

    Keywords: crops, foods, Food security, Green strategy, Hydrogen-rich water

    Received: 12 Jun 2024; Accepted: 03 Sep 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Alwazeer, Hancock, Russell, Stratakos, Li, ÇİĞDEM, Engin and LeBaron. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Duried Alwazeer, Iğdır Üniversitesi, Iğdır, Türkiye

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.