Postharvest preservation of fruits is one of the key issues in the current agriculture and food processing industry. Surface coating treatment, a promising technology for postharvest fruit preservation, has gathered significant attention due to its ability to reduce water loss, regulate gas exchange, and inhibit respiration, thereby achieving postharvest fruit preservation. Among them, chitosan-based coating has a wide application prospect due to its superior film-forming capability, high biosecurity, wide range of sources, etc. This review summarizes the structural features, physicochemical properties, modification strategies, and preservation mechanisms of chitosan-based coatings, focusing on their applications in postharvest fruit storage. Unlike prior works, it highlights advanced modifications (e.g., nanocomposite, multifunctional grafting) that enhance antimicrobial activity, mechanical strength, and environmental adaptability. Challenges in fruit preservation—such as microbial resistance and stability—are analyzed, with solutions proposed via material innovation. The discussion on industrial scalability emphasizes chitosan’s biodegradability, cost-effectiveness, and alignment with sustainable agriculture, while addressing technical bottlenecks. This work bridges fundamental research and practical use, advancing chitosan-based coatings toward greener, safer, and scalable postharvest solutions.

The quality assurance of corn seeds is of utmost significance in all stages of production, storage, circulation, and breeding. However, the traditional detection method has some disadvantages, such as high labor intensity, strong subjectivity, low efficiency, cumbersome operation, etc. In view of this, it is of great significance to study more advanced detection methods. In this paper, the application of near-infrared spectroscopy and its imaging technology in the quality detection of corn seeds was reviewed. Firstly, the principles of these two technologies were introduced, and their components, data acquisition, and processing methods, as well as portability, were compared and discussed. Then, the application of these methods to the main quality of corn seeds (including variety and purity, vigor, internal components, mycotoxins, and other qualities such as frost damage, hardness, and maturity, etc.) was reviewed. Breakthroughs and innovations have been made in detection methods, spectral preprocessing methods and recognition algorithms. The significance of corn quality characteristics and the function of the applied algorithm were emphasized. Finally, the challenges and future research direction of spectral and its imaging technology was proposed, aiming to further enhance the accuracy, reliability, and practicability of the detection technology. With the rapid development of spectral and its imaging technology, the detection methods of corn quality are also advancing with the times. This is not just for corn, but more and more crops can be accurately detected by these technologies. It will become an important means of agricultural production inspection in the future.

Although biofloc technology (BFT) currently offers advantages such as improving aquaculture water quality, providing natural bait for cultured animals, and reducing pests and diseases, single BFT systems face technical bottlenecks, including the complex regulation of the carbon–nitrogen ratio, accumulation of suspended substances, and acidification of the bottom sludge. Therefore, constructing a composite system with complementary functions through technology integration, such as with aquaponics, biofilm technology, integrated multi-trophic aquaculture systems (IMTAs), and recirculating aquaculture systems (RASs), has become the key path to breaking through industrialization barriers. This paper systematically reviews the action mechanisms, synergistic effects, and challenges of the four mainstream integration models incorporating BFT, providing theoretical support for the environmental–economic balance of intensive aquaculture.

The application of heat pump systems in agriculture, especially within livestock farms, has attracted considerable attention due to their potential for energy efficiency and improved environmental sustainability. Many studies have explored using heat pumps to optimize the indoor environments of barns. This review offers a comprehensive overview and analysis of the current applications of heat pump systems in livestock barn environmental control. Initially, it outlines the fundamental principle of heat pumps and the various types of heat pumps. Then, the technical advantages of the heat pump systems in regulating indoor temperature and humidity of livestock facilities, improving energy efficiency, and reducing environmental impacts are evaluated. Heat pump systems outperform conventional heating and cooling methods in terms of energy utilization and cost-effectiveness, and they positively contribute to reducing environmental pollution. However, some barriers obstruct the widespread adoption of heat pump systems, including policy and regulatory, economic and financial, and technological and infrastructure, as well as public perception and awareness. Future research is recommended to address these barriers. Thus, more heat pump systems in livestock farms could be extensively applied.

Spectroscopy and its imaging techniques are now popular methods for quantitative and qualitative analysis in fields such as agricultural products and foods, and combined with various chemometric methods. In fact, this is the application basis for spectroscopy and spectral imaging techniques in other fields such as genetics and transgenic monitoring. To date, there has been considerable research using spectroscopy and its imaging techniques (especially NIR spectroscopy, hyperspectral imaging) for the effective identification of agricultural products and foods. There have been few comprehensive reviews that cover the use of spectroscopic and imaging methods in the identification of genetically modified organisms. Therefore, this paper focuses on the application of NIR spectroscopy and its imaging techniques (including NIR spectroscopy and hyperspectral imaging techniques) in transgenic agricultural product and food detection and compares them with traditional detection methods. A large number of studies have shown that the application of NIR spectroscopy and imaging techniques in the detection of genetically modified foods is effective when compared to conventional approaches such as polymerase chain reaction and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.