If you’ve ever brought home a carton of fresh strawberries only to find them moldy and destined for the trash a few days later, researchers may have found a simple solution: coating the fruit in a seaweed-based liquid that could keep it fresh without refrigeration.
University of British Columbia (UBC) scientists developed the seaweed-derived coating with the goal of extending the shelf life of fresh produce and reducing food waste and reliance on energy-intensive refrigeration.
"Nearly half of all food produced in Canada is lost or wasted, costing the economy an estimated $58 billion annually," the university reported in a news release on the seaweed-coating breakthrough. "Fresh fruits and vegetables are particularly vulnerable to spoilage, losing moisture and becoming susceptible to mold and bacteria during storage and transport."
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According to UBC, researchers developed the "natural, biocompatible, plant-based, and consumer-friendly" coating for post-harvest preservation by combining agar, a substance derived from red seaweed; with zinc, an essential nutrient; and tannic acid, a naturally occurring plant compound found in foods and beverages such as grapes and tea.
"Applied to strawberries, grapes and apple slices, the coating extended shelf life by at least two-fold," the researchers reported in their study, published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.
"The coating acts like a very thin and invisible protective barrier," Tianxi Yang, a UBC assistant professor of food science and the study's lead author, told Fox News Digital. "It helps slow moisture loss and gas exchange while also providing antibacterial and antioxidant protection, which together delay dehydration, softening, oxidation and spoilage."
The shelf life of an average carton of strawberries could be extended considerably with this coating, Yang said.
"At room temperature, uncoated strawberries showed visible spoilage within about two days, while coated strawberries remained fresh and intact for at least four days," she said. "When the coating was combined with refrigeration, we observed no spoilage for at least six days."
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The coating is designed to be essentially tasteless and preserve the produce’s natural flavor, Yang said. Initial observations suggest the coating does not noticeably change the strawberries’ smell, texture or natural appearance.
Yang added that she and fellow researchers plan to conduct comprehensive sensory studies soon.
According to the UBC release, "the coating also showed antibacterial properties and no signs of toxicity in tests using human intestinal cells." The coating has not yet been approved for commercial use.
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For consumers concerned about ingesting the coating, researchers found that most of it can be easily rinsed off under running tap water.
Further safety assessments and regulatory review would still be required before commercial use, Yang noted, but she said the results so far are encouraging.
"The technology has demonstrated promising performance and scalability in the laboratory," she said.
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"The next steps will focus on further safety and regulatory evaluation, scale-up and commercial validation. We are also interested in connecting with potential investors and partners who can help advance the technology toward commercialization."