A systematic review of real-time monitoring technologies and its potential application to reduce food loss and waste: key elements of food supply chains and IoT technologies

Continuous monitoring of food loss and waste (FLW) is crucial for improving food security and mitigating climate change. By measuring quality parameters such as temperature and humidity, real-time sensors are technologies that can continuously monitor the quality of food and thereby help reduce FLW. While there is enough literature on sensors, there is still a lack of understanding on how, where and to what extent these sensors have been applied to monitor FLW. In this paper, a systematic review of 59 published studies focused on sensor technologies to reduce food waste in food supply chains was performed with a view to synthesising the experience and lessons learnt. This review examines two aspects of the field, namely, the type of IoT technologies applied and the characteristics of the supply chains in which it has been deployed. Supply chain characteristics according to the type of product, supply chain stage, and region were examined, while sensor technology explores the monitored parameters, communication protocols, data storage, and application layers. This article shows that, while due to their high perishability and short shelf lives, monitoring fruit and vegetables using a combination of temperature and humidity sensors is the most recurring goal of the research, there are many other applications and technologies being explored in the research space for the reduction of food waste. In addition, it was demonstrated that there is huge potential in the field, and that IoT technologies should be continually explored and applied to improve food production, management, transportation, and storage to support the cause of reducing FLW.