I-Corps: Plant-made antimicrobials used as a produce wash for vegetables and fruits

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The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is the development of a commercial-scale natural wash solution for produce. The goal is to meet the needs of consumers for greener, environmentally sustainable products for safe, natural processing of agriculture products, food, and beverages. Consumers are requesting that sanitizers in food processing meet two key metrics: 1) they need to lead to a safer food supply, and 2) they need to be more environmentally friendly, and ideally derived from natural (non-chemical) sources. The proposed technology is designed to fill this gap as the formulations have durable activity for higher efficacy, conserve water, and enhance safety and shelf-life by greater reduction of foodborne pathogens and spoilage bacteria during transportation and storage. Target customers, such as large crop producers and processing / packaging / distribution companies, already deploy sanitizers, yet are often not satisfied with the current solutions. This project seeks to discover how best to partner and meet customers’ need, with benefits of significant water savings, extended shelf-life, environmental sustainability, and possibly fewer recalls for produce as well as reduced illnesses and deaths from foodborne pathogens. This I-Corps project is based on the development of a natural antimicrobial wash technology that has been tested to kill foodborne pathogens such as Salmonella and E. coli O157:H7 on produce such as vegetables and fruits. In addition, the technology is designed to conserve wash water due to the recyclability of the wash water, and increase shelf-life of the produce, which may be considered eco-friendly. This technology combines plant extracts with emulsifiers to create synergistic effects that are active at very low concentrations to achieve these benefits. Processing houses are highly complex and adapted to each type of crop in the various steps such as coring, cutting, cleaning/sanitizing, and bagging of the produce. Customer discovery interviews and visits will allow development of a business model around the proposed technology to evaluate product-market fit. Overall, the proposed project will significantly advance the understanding of the pain points surrounding produce washing and how this natural plant-made antimicrobial wash technology may be implemented.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.