With the objective of manufacturing environmentally pleasant options to plastic meals wrappers and containers, a Rutgers scientist has developed a plant-based, biodegradable coating that may be sprayed on meals, defending it towards pathogenic and spoilage microorganisms. and transport harm.
The scalable course of may probably scale back the opposed environmental impression of plastic meals packaging, in addition to shield human well being.
“We knew we would have liked to do away with the petroleum-based meals packaging that exists and exchange it with one thing extra sustainable, biodegradable and non-toxic,” mentioned Philip Demokritou, director of the Middle for Nanoscience and Superior Supplies Analysis, and the Henry C. Analysis Middle. Rutgers. Endowed Chair in Environmental Nanoscience and Bioengineering on the Rutgers College of Public Well being and the Institute of Environmental and Occupational Well being Sciences. “And we requested ourselves on the identical time: ‘Can we design meals packaging with performance that extends shelf life and reduces meals waste whereas enhancing meals security?’”
Demokritou added: “And what we’ve discovered is a scalable know-how, which permits us to transform biopolymers, which might be derived as a part of a round economic system from meals waste, into good fibers that may be straight wrapped in meals. That is a part of the brand new era of ‘good’ and ‘inexperienced’ meals packaging.”
The analysis was carried out along side scientists from Harvard College and was funded by the Harvard Technological College-Nanyang/Singapore Sustainable Nanotechnology Initiative.
His article, revealed within the scientific journal Nature Meals, describes the brand new sort of packaging know-how that makes use of fibers based mostly on polysaccharides/biopolymers. Just like the webs created by the Marvel comedian guide character Spider-Man, the fibrous materials might be spun from a heating gadget that resembles a hair dryer and “wrapped” over meals of assorted sizes and styles. , like an avocado or a sirloin steak. fillet. The ensuing materials that encases meals merchandise is hard sufficient to guard them from bruising and incorporates antimicrobial brokers to fight spoilage and pathogenic microorganisms akin to E. coli and listeria.
The analysis paper features a description of the know-how referred to as targeted rotary jet spinning, a course of by which the biopolymer is produced, and quantitative evaluations displaying that the coating prolonged the shelf lifetime of avocados by 50 p.c. The coating might be rinsed with water and degrades in soil inside three days, based on the examine.
The brand new packaging goals to deal with a critical environmental downside: the proliferation of petroleum-based plastic merchandise within the waste stream. Efforts to curb plastic use, akin to laws in states like New Jersey to remove the distribution of plastic buying luggage in grocery shops, might help, Demokritou mentioned. However he needed to do extra.
“I’m not towards plastics,” mentioned Demokritou. “I’m towards petroleum-based plastics that we proceed to throw away as a result of solely a small a part of them might be recycled. During the last 50 to 60 years, in the course of the Plastic Age, we’ve positioned 6 billion metric tons of plastic waste in the environment. They’re on the market slowly degrading. And these little bits change into the water we drink, the meals we eat, and the air we breathe.”
Mounting proof from Demokritou’s analysis staff and others factors to potential well being implications.
The paper describes how the brand new food-encapsulating fibers are mixed with pure antimicrobial components: thyme oil, citric acid and nisin. Researchers on the Demokritou analysis staff can program these good supplies to behave as sensors, activating and destroying bacterial strains to make sure meals arrives intact. This may deal with the rising concern about foodborne sickness and scale back the incidence of meals spoilage, Demokritou mentioned.
Reference: Chang H, Xu J, Macqueen LA, et al. Excessive-performance coating with biodegradable antimicrobial pullulan fibers extends shelf life and reduces weight reduction in an avocado mannequin. pure meals. Revealed on-line June 20, 2022: 1-9. doi:10.1038/s43016-022-00523-w
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