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

I-Corps项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力是开发一种延长草莓和其他水果和蔬菜保质期的技术。腐败是新鲜食品高价格背后的一个重要经济驱动因素，而草莓是腐败率最高的新鲜食品之一，超过40%的收获草莓由于微生物腐败而从未被食用和丢弃。冷藏等现有技术无法直接解决微生物食品变质问题，因为冷却产品只会推迟不可避免的结果。该技术旨在通过消除微生物直接解决食品腐败问题。这不是为了取代食用前的清洗或烹饪食物，而是为了延缓食用前的变质。除了草莓保鲜，其他对传统包装技术过于敏感的食品或易受微生物伤害的生物材料也可能受到保护。I-Corps项目的基础是开发一种活性炭垫，它可以同时提供硫代葡萄糖苷和黑芥子酶，以延长草莓在受潮时的保质期。活性炭的独特性质允许硫代葡萄糖苷和黑芥子酶分离，但在一个产品中一起交付。活性炭可以对不同孔径的分子进行分类。大的黑芥子酶将留在外表面，硫代葡萄糖苷将被吸附到较小的微孔中。当引入水分时，硫代葡萄糖苷将通过毛细管作用从孔隙中携带出来，并在表面扩散。游离的硫代葡萄糖苷将与碳表面的黑芥子酶水解，释放出气态抗菌化合物异硫氰酸酯。根据异硫氰酸酯的反应速率和气体浓度，产生抑菌或杀菌效果的气氛。此外，所提出的技术已被证明对用气态异硫氰酸酯保存的食物的味道和质地的影响很小。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

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.