A systematic literature review of life cycle assessments in the durum wheat sector

It is recognised today that the global food system does not always deliver good nutrition for all human beings, and, additionally, dramatically contributes to climate change, environmental degradation, and biodiversity loss. In particular, the cereal sector threatens biodiversity and ecosystem functions, due to environmentally harmful farming activities, that critically alter climate conditions, along with energy, land, and water resources. According to this paper's authors' opinion, this supports the rationale of conducting a systematic literature review of Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs) in the durum wheat (DW) sector, to highlight environmental hotspots and improvement potentials in the phases of cultivation and processing into finished products like pasta and bread. Methodological aspects were also discussed in this paper, to provide useful insights on how to best perform LCA in such agri-food supply chains. Given the findings from the papers reviewed, the authors could document that the cultivation phase is the primary environmental hotspot of DW-derived food products and suggested several mitigation and improvements solution including, organic farming practices, diversified cropping systems, reduction of N fertilisers and pesticides application, and irrigation optimisation strategies. Furthermore, the review highlighted that there exist two main gaps in the literature, mainly related to the scarce attention on the organic farming sector and DW landraces, and the lack of nutritional-property accounting in LCAs. Finally, although specific, the review may be of interest to researchers, LCA practitioners, farmers and producers, policy-and decision-makers, and other stakeholders, and could support the promotion of environmental sustainability in the DW sector.

Automated summary

This paper highlights the issues with the global food system in terms of nutrition, climate change, environmental degradation, and biodiversity loss. It focuses specifically on the cereal sector and the negative impact it has on biodiversity and ecosystem functions. The authors conducted a systematic literature review of Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs) in the durum wheat sector to identify environmental hotspots and improvement potentials. They found that the cultivation phase is the primary environmental hotspot for durum wheat-derived food products and suggested several solutions for mitigation and improvement. The paper also identifies gaps in the literature, such as the lack of attention to organic farming and the nutritional properties of durum wheat. Overall, the review is important for researchers, practitioners, farmers, policymakers, and stakeholders as it supports the promotion of environmental sustainability in the durum wheat sector.