Evaluation and Determination of Strategies for Reducing Aflatoxin in Pistachios Using SWOT Matrix

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Pistachio Research Center

2 Kar Higher Education Institute

Abstract

In this research, while investigating the amount of scientific output in the field of aflatoxin in pistachio, ways to improve pistachio quality and increase consumer health are presented. Therefore, the indicators such as the number and type of scientific papers, articles, or abstracts of articles presented in conferences, research projects, thesis, and published books in the field of aflatoxin in pistachio were evaluated. Data collection was done by preparing the questionnaire and completing it using the information of the actual people and the information available at educational, research and executive institutions, as well as searching through the Internet sites including Scopus, Magiran, SID, web of science and others, in 2015 to 2019. The results showed that during the evaluation period, 74 research projects were implemented, about 25.7% of which were carried out by research units of the Ministry of Jahad-e-Agriculture, including research institutes and research centers, and the rest were dedicated educational and research units of the Ministry of Science, Medical Sciences, Azad University and others. 66.2 percent of the projects are based on the fundamental approach and 33.8 percent of the projects are with the applied approach. A total of 769 scientific articles have been published in this period. During this period, 42 volumes of the book have been published. The number of patents and innovations registered in this course was 387 titles. During this time, 501 MSc and Ph.D. thesis has been prepared. Demand for healthy pistachio is growing in Iran and the world and it pointed out that desirable strategies should be defensive. A strategy should be chosen that reduces or eliminates the damage caused by the threats. In fact, to improve consumer awareness and health, a corrective approach should be taken to structure the current status of aflatoxin in pistachio.

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