Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Comparison of different tomato puree production phases from an environmental point of view

  • LCA FOR AGRICULTURE
  • Published:
The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

Agro-food systems are involved with considerable environmental impacts. Tomato as an important vegetable crop is processed into some products such as puree, ketchup, and paste. This study aimed to investigate the environmental impacts of tomato puree production considering its entire life cycle, including tomato cultivation, processing, packaging, and transportation, to identify the hotspots and potential improvements for each stage to reduce environmental burdens.

Methods

The primary data were collected from the processing plant located in Urmia County, Iran, and 28 tomato growers which provide tomato to processing plant using a face-to-face questionnaire. The source for secondary data was the Ecoinvent, LCA Food DK, and IDMAT 2001 databases. The functional unit was considered as 500 g tomato puree packaged in a steel can with a plastic cap. The environmental impacts were investigated using the CML 2 baseline method.

Results and discussions

Results showed that packaging is the most important contributor to all impact categories except acidification (AC) and eutrophication (EP) in which tomato cultivation was indicated as the hotspot. In the cultivation phase, electricity and N-based fertilizers were indicated as the major contributors to most impact categories. Diesel fuel and natural gas were the hotspots in the processing phase.

Conclusions

Based on the results, packaging and cultivation phases have enough potential to reduce environmental impacts during puree production. It can be realized through applying materials that are involved with negligible environmental burdens during their production for packaging and improving irrigation systems for reducing electricity as a major hotspot in cultivation phases. Also, soil analysis would be helpful to determine the amounts and types of required fertilizers.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Andersson K, Ohlsson T, Olsson P (1998) Screening life cycle assessment (LCA) of tomato ketchup: a case study. J Clean Prod 6(3):277–288

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Anonymous (2017) FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization Statistics. http://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/QC; <http://www.fao.org/faostat/en/>

  • Bacenetti J, Duca D, Negri M, Fusi A, Fiala M (2015) Mitigation strategies in the agro-food sector: the anaerobic digestion of tomato puree by-products. An Italian case study. Sci Total Environ 526:88–97

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Boguski TK, Hunt RG, Cholakis JM, Franklin WE (1996) LCA methodology. In: Curran MA (ed) environmental life-cycle assessment. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-publication Data, pp 15-33

  • Bolliger R, Bauer C (2007) Wasserkraft. Sachbilanzen von Energiesystemen (Ecoinvent report no. 6). Swiss Centre for LCI, Dübendorf and Villigen, Switzerland

  • Braschkat J, Patyk A, Quirin M, Reinhardt GA (2004) Life cycle assessment of bread production-a comparison of eight different scenarios. DIAS report, 9

  • Buttery RG, Teranishi R, Ling LC, Turnbaugh JG (1990) Quantitative and sensory studies on tomato paste volatiles. J Agric Food Chem 38(1):336–340

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Calderón LA, Iglesias L, Laca A, Herrero M, Diaz M (2010) The utility of life cycle assessment in the ready meal food industry. Resour Conserv Recycl 54:1196–1207

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cellura M, Longo S, Mistretta M (2012) Life cycle assessment (LCA) of protected crops: an Italian case study. J Clean Prod 28:56–62

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cichorowski G, Joa B, Hottenroth H, Schmidt M (2015) Scenario analysis of life cycle greenhouse gas emissions of Darjeeling tea. Int J Life Cycle Assess 20(4):426–439

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • De Klein C, Novoa RSA, Ogle S, Smith KA, Rochette P, Wirth TC, McConkey BG, Mosier A, Rypdal K, Walsh M (2006) N2O emissions from managed soils, and CO2 emissions from lime and urea application. IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories, Prepared by the National Greenhouse Gas Inventories Programme, Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES), Japan

  • Dechmi F, Playán E, Faci JM, Tejero M (2003a) Analysis of an irrigation district in northeastern Spain: I: characterisation and water use assessment. Agric Water Manag 61:75–92

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dechmi F, Playán E, Faci JM, Tejero M, Bercero A (2003b) Analysis of an irrigation district in northeastern Spain: II. Irrigation evaluation, simulation and scheduling. Agric Water Manag 61:93–109

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Del Borghi A, Gallo M, Strazza C, Del Borghi M (2014) An evaluation of environmental sustainability in the food industry through life cycle assessment: the case study of tomato products supply chain. J Clean Prod 78:121–130

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • EPA-Environmental Protection Agency (1998) Emission factor documentation for AP-42 Section 1.4-Natural gas combustion, Technical support division, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards, Research Triangle Park, NC. ‹http://www3.epa.gov/ttnchie1/ap42/ch01/bgdocs/b01s04.pdf ›

  • European Commission (2011) Roadmap to a resource efficient Europe

  • Faist Emmenegger M, Heck T, Jungbluth N (2007) Erdgas. Sachbilanzen von Energiesystemen (Ecoinvent report no. 6). Swiss Centre for Life Cycle Inventories, Dübendorf and Villigen, Switzerland

  • Farahani SS, Asoodar M (2017) Life cycle environmental impacts of bioethanol production from sugarcane molasses in Iran. Environ Sci Pollut Res 24:22547–22556

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Guinée JB, Gorrée M, Heijungs R, Huppes G, de Koning KRA, Wegener Sleeswijk A (2001) Handbook on life cycle assessment. Operational Guide to the ISO Standards. Kluwer, Dordrecht, the Netherlands

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) (1996) In: Houghton JT, Meira Filho LG, Lim B, Treanton K, Mamaty I, Bonduki Y, Griggs DJ, Callender BA (eds) Revised 1996 IPCC guidelines for national greenhouse gas inventories. IPCC/OECD/IEA, Paris

  • ISO 14040 (2006) Environmental management: life cycle assessment: principles and framework. ISO, Geneva

  • ISO 14044 (2006) Environmental management—life cycle assessment—requirements and guidelines. ISO, Geneva

  • Khanali M, Shahvarooghi Farahani S, Shojaei H, Elhami B (2017) Life cycle environmental impacts of saffron production in Iran. Environ Sci Pollut Res 24(5):4812–4821

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Khoshnevisan B, Rafiee S, Omid M, Mousazadeh H, Clark S (2014) Environmental impact assessment of tomato and cucumber cultivation in greenhouses using life cycle assessment and adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system. J Clean Prod 73:183–192

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kouchaki-Penchah H, Sharifi M, Mousazadeh H, Zarea-Hosseinabadi H, Nabavi-Pelesaraei A (2016) Gate to gate life cycle assessment of flat pressed particleboard production in Islamic Republic of Iran. J Clean Prod 112:343–350

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lecina S, Playán E, Isidoro D, Dechmi F, Causape J, Faci JM (2005) Irrigation evaluation and simulation at the irrigation district V of Bardenas (Spain). Agric Water Manag 73(3):223–245

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Manfredi M, Vignali G (2014) Life cycle assessment of a packaged tomato puree: a comparison of environmental impacts produced by different life cycle phases. J Clean Prod 73:275–284

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nabavi-Pelesaraei A, Rafiee S, Mohtasebi SS, Hosseinzadeh-Bandbafha H, Chau KW (2019) Assessment of optimized pattern in milling factories of rice production based on energy, environmental and economic objectives. Energy 169:1259–1273

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nemecek T, Kägi T, Blaser S (2007) Life cycle inventories of agricultural production systems. Final report Ecoinvent v2.0 no.15. Swiss Centre for Life Cycle Inventories, Duebendorf, Zurich, Switzerland

  • Nikkhah A, Emadi B, Firouzi S (2015) F sustain. Energy Technol Assess 12:10–14

    Google Scholar 

  • Notarnicola B, Hayashi K, Curran MA, Huisingh D (2012) Progress in working towards a more sustainable agri-food industry. J Clean Prod 28:1–8

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Pishgar-Komleh SH, Akram A, Keyhani A, Raei M, Elshout PMF, Huijbregts MAJ, van Zelm R (2017) Variability in the carbon footprint of open-field tomato production in Iran-a case study of Alborz and East-Azerbaijan provinces. J Clean Prod 142:1510–1517

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Playán E, Slatni A, Castillo R, Faci JM (2000) A case study for irrigation modernisation: II scenario analysis. Agric Water Manag 42:335–354

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rajaeifar MA, Akram A, Ghobadian B, Rafiee S, Heidari MD (2014) Energy-economic life cycle assessment (LCA) and greenhouse gas emissions analysis of olive oil production in Iran. Energy 66:139–149

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Romero-Gámez M, Suárez-Rey EM, Antón A, Castilla N, Soriano T (2012) Environmental impact of screenhouse and open-field cultivation using a life cycle analysis: the case study of green bean production. J Clean Prod 28:63–69

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roy P, Nei D, Okadome H, Nakamura N, Orikasa T, Shiina T (2008) Life cycle inventory analysis of fresh tomato distribution systems in Japan considering the quality aspect. J Food Eng 86(2):225–233

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Soheili-Fard F, Kouchaki-Penchah H, Raini MGN, Chen G (2018) Cradle to grave environmental-economic analysis of tea life cycle in Iran. J Clean Prod 196:953–960

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Verones F, Pfister S, Van-Zelm R, Hellweg S (2016) Biodiversity impacts from water consumption on a global scale for use in life cycle assessment. Int J Life Cycle Assess 22(8):1247–1256

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • World Water Assessment Programme (2009) The United Nations world water development report 3: water in a changing world. UNESCO and London: Earthscan, Paris

    Google Scholar 

  • Yahyaoui I, Tadeo F, Segatto MV (2016) Energy and water management for drip-irrigation of tomatoes in a semi-arid district. Agric Water Manag 183:4–15

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zarei MJ, Kazemi N, Marzban A (2017) Life cycle environmental impacts of cucumber and tomato production in open-field and greenhouse. J Saudi Soc Agric Sci. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jssas.2017.07.001

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the company’s personnel for cooperation and giving the data.

Funding

The authors would like to thank the Ramin Agriculture and Natural Resource University of Khuzestan for financial support.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Agricultural Engineering and Rural Development, Department of Agricultural Machinery Engineering, Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources University of Khuzestan, Mollasani, Iran

    Saeid Shahvarooghi Farahani, Farshad Soheilifard & Mahmoud Ghasemi Nejad Raini

  2. Faculty of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Department of Agricultural Machinery Engineering, Faculty of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, University of Tehran, Karaj, Iran

    Delnia Kokei

Authors
  1. Saeid Shahvarooghi Farahani
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Farshad Soheilifard
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Mahmoud Ghasemi Nejad Raini
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Delnia Kokei
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Farshad Soheilifard.

Additional information

Responsible editor: Thomas Jan Nemecek

Publisher’s note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Shahvarooghi Farahani, S., Soheilifard, F., Ghasemi Nejad Raini, M. et al. Comparison of different tomato puree production phases from an environmental point of view. Int J Life Cycle Assess 24, 1817–1827 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-019-01613-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-019-01613-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation