Researchers at IIT Guwahati have developed an edible coating that may enhance the shelf lifetime of vegatables and fruits. Designed to forestall meals waste, researchers discovered that the coating can maintain produce contemporary for for much longer than they might with out it.
They examined the coating on a wide range of greens and fruits, together with potatoes, tomatoes, inexperienced peppers, strawberries, mandarins, apples, pineapples and kiwis.
“It can help preserve vegetables and fruits for up to two months. For example, coating ripe tomatoes increases the shelf life of tomatoes by about one month when stored under ambient temperatures, compared to uncoated tomatoes. Also it is difficult to keep strawberries fresh for more than 5 days. But with our coating, ripe strawberries can be preserved for more than 20 days,” added Vimal Katiyar indianexpress.com on e mail.
Katiyar led the analysis and is a professor within the Department of Chemical Engineering and Center for Excellence in Sustainable Polymers at IIT Guwahati. analysis findings are has been revealed within the Journal. ACS Food Science and Technology in june,
The particular coating was created utilizing a mix of two substances: micro-algae extract and polysaccharides. The extract is from the marine microalgae Dunaliella terriolacta, which is commonly used as a supply of algae oil, a well being complement that may be a plant-based different to fish oil. Typically, after the extraction of algae oil, a residue is discarded from the method.
Katiyar and his group used an extract of this residue to make their movie coating. The stays had been blended with chitosan, a sugar made by treating the shell’s outer skeleton, to make it an edible movie.
Over the previous six years, Katiyar and his group have been creating completely different variations of those coatings based mostly on the vegatables and fruits they use.
“The end user does not require any special knowledge or machinery to apply the coating. These are very simple solutions that can be implemented very easily. Farmers are already using such product handling solutions on a day to day basis. Based on this,” Katiyar mentioned.
The researchers explored the biosafety of those coatings by treating BHK-21 cells with the fabric. These cells are derived from the kidneys of child hamsters and are utilized in toxicology research. From these checks, the researchers had been capable of conclude that the supplies are non-toxic and can be utilized safely as a meals product coating. Katiyar didn’t touch upon whether or not the coating wanted research to determine its long-term results on well being.
Also, Katiyar didn’t touch upon what the fabric would price proper now, however did say that it is able to be became a industrial product. “Now, we’re able to convey it on a industrial scale with the assist of industries. I want to ask the industries to assist convey this necessary innovation to the market in order that it could possibly enhance the revenue of the farmers.
With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
