Academics at Harvard University have created a spray in a lab that covers the surface of the beloved stone with seeds preferred by urban cafes and their millennial clientele. Proof of their idea is the first time a team has developed a one-step method where antimicrobial fibers can be spun and coated directly onto a fruit. The fibers are made of pullulan, a natural sugar, and enriched with antimicrobial agents such as thyme and citric acid. Dr Democritus, an associate professor at Harvard School of Public Health, said: “We knew we had to get rid of the oil-based food packaging out there and replace it with something more sustainable, biodegradable and non-toxic. “And we wondered at the same time: ‘Can we design food packaging with a functionality that extends shelf life and reduces food waste while enhancing food safety?’ “What we have come up with is an expandable technology that enables us to convert biopolymers, which can be produced as part of a cyclical economy from food waste, into smart fibers that can wrap food directly. “This is part of a new generation of ‘smart’ and ‘green’ food packaging.”
The new coating degrades the soil in 3 days
Laboratory tests on avocados have shown that those wrapped in the special antimicrobial wrap are only 50% “off” after seven days. In contrast, fruits that are not wrapped or taped are 90 percent rotten by that time. The coating can be rinsed with water and degraded in the soil within three days, according to the study authors. Professor Democritus said: “I am not against plastics, I am against plastics based on the oil that we continue to throw out there because only a small part of them can be recycled. “In the last 50 to 60 years, during the Plastic Age, we have placed six billion metric tons of plastic waste in our environment. “It simply came to our notice then. “And these tiny fragments get into the water we drink, the food we eat and the air we breathe.” The findings are published in the journal Nature Food.
