I-Corps: Developing Protein-based, Edible Coatings for Perishable Produce to Reduce Food Waste

I-Corps：为易腐烂农产品开发基于蛋白质的可食用涂层，以减少食物浪费

• 批准号: 2132733
• 负责人: Muhammad Rahman
• 金额: $ 5万
• 依托单位: William Marsh Rice University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2021-06-01 至 2023-11-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2132733&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Corps; Developing; Protein; based; Edible

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is the development of a sustainable coating technology to reduce global food waste and economic losses. Among all foods, fruits and vegetables are the highest categories of losses, with up to 50-60% of produce discarded in landfills. The proposed innovation will provide a desirable and healthy protein-fortified coating for food preservation and upcycle inexpensive food waste materials currently disposed of as landfills. The coating is washable, edible, and glossy - providing an all-encompassing yet desirable food preservation solution that benefits consumers, sellers, and farmers alike. It extends the post-harvest life of perishable products by reducing maturation, senescence, dehydration, and microbial growth rates. The proposed coating technology will be targeted towards the growing food coating market and will offer significant potential to combat the challenge of food preservation and waste management effectively and simultaneously.This I-Corps project is based on the development of an eco-friendly and biodegradable protein-based nanocomposite coating that can be applied to the surface of perishable fruits and vegetables of any shape via dip and spray coatings. Agro-derived proteins such as soy and corn will be modified by sequential chemical interactions using an optimized, bio-based plasticizer, crosslinker, and nanomaterials to fabricate the coating. In the preliminary work, cellulose nanocrystal-reinforced, egg-protein composite coating has significantly extended the shelf life and cosmetic appearance of various fruits, including banana, avocado, strawberry, and papaya. The coating has shown excellent antimicrobial properties and overcomes the significant challenge of simultaneously achieving the lowest oxygen and moisture barrier properties for a natural food coating. This combination of properties will extend the post-harvest life by reducing maturation, senescence, dehydration, and microbial growth rate. Future efforts include further optimizing materials, chemical modifications, scaling mechanisms from a technical perspective, and assessing business feasibility for potential commercialization.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

这个i-Corps项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力是开发一种可持续的涂层技术，以减少全球食物浪费和经济损失。在所有食物中，水果和蔬菜是损失最多的类别，高达50%-60%的农产品被丢弃在垃圾填埋场。这项拟议的创新将提供一种理想的、健康的蛋白质强化涂层来保存食物，并回收目前作为垃圾填埋场处置的廉价食物垃圾。该涂层可清洗、可食用和有光泽-提供了一种全面但令人满意的食品保存解决方案，使消费者、卖家和农民都受益。它通过减少成熟、衰老、脱水和微生物生长速度延长易腐烂产品的采后寿命。拟议的涂层技术将针对不断增长的食品涂层市场，并将提供巨大的潜力，以有效和同时应对食品保鲜和废物管理的挑战。这项i-Corps项目基于开发一种生态友好和可生物降解的蛋白质基纳米复合涂层，可通过浸渍和喷涂涂层应用于任何形状的易腐烂水果和蔬菜的表面。大豆和玉米等农产品衍生蛋白质将通过顺序化学作用进行修饰，使用优化的生物增塑剂、交联剂和纳米材料来制造涂层。在前期工作中，纤维素纳米晶增强的鸡蛋蛋白复合涂层显著延长了各种水果的货架期和美容外观，包括香蕉、鳄梨、草莓和木瓜。该涂层已显示出优异的抗菌性能，并克服了同时获得天然食品涂层最低的氧气和水分阻隔性的重大挑战。这种特性的结合将通过减少成熟、衰老、脱水和微生物生长速度来延长收获后的寿命。未来的努力包括从技术角度进一步优化材料、化学修饰、缩放机制，以及评估潜在商业化的商业可行性。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。