I-Corps: Activated carbon pad to deliver glucosinolates and myrosinase enzymes to extend the shelf-life of strawberries

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The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is the development of a technology to extend the shelf life of strawberries and other fruits and vegetables. Spoilage is a large economic driver behind the high price of fresh foods, and strawberries are one of the fresh foods with the highest spoilage with upwards of 40% of harvested strawberries never being consumed and discarded due to microbial spoilage. Established technologies like refrigeration fail to directly address microbial food spoilage as chilling the produce only delays an inevitable outcome. The proposed technology is designed to directly address food spoilage through the elimination of microbes. This is not expected to replace washing or cooking foods before consumption but to delay spoilage prior to consumption. In addition to strawberry preservation, other foods or microbial vulnerable biomaterials may be protected that are too sensitive for conventional packaging technologies.This I-Corps project is based on the development an activated carbon pad that delivers glucosinolates and myrosinase enzyme together to extend shelf-life of strawberries when exposed to moisture. The unique properties of activated carbon allow for the glucosinolates and myrosinase to be separated but delivered together in one product. The activated carbon may act to sort the molecules with its different pore sizes. The large myrosinase enzyme will stay on the outer surface and glucosinolates will be adsorbed into the smaller micropores. When moisture is introduced, the glucosinolates will be carried out of the pores by capillary action and diffuse across the surface. The free glucosinolates will hydrolyze with the myrosinase enzyme on the carbon surface, releasing a gaseous antimicrobial compound, isothiocyanate. This creates an atmosphere that has a bacteriostatic or bactericidal effect, depending on the reaction rate and gaseous concentration of isothiocyanates. In addition, the proposed technology has been shown to have a minimal impact on the taste and texture of food preserved with gaseous isothiocyanates.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.