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

这个i-Corps项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是开发一种延长草莓和其他水果和蔬菜的保质期的技术。变质是生鲜食品高价格背后的一大经济驱动力，草莓是变质程度最高的生鲜食品之一，超过40%的收获草莓从未因微生物变质而被食用或丢弃。现有的技术，如冷藏，无法直接解决微生物食品腐败问题，因为冷藏产品只会推迟不可避免的结果。这项拟议的技术旨在通过消除微生物直接解决食品腐败问题。预计这不会取代食用前的洗涤或烹调食物，而是在食用前延缓变质。除了草莓的保存，其他对传统包装技术过于敏感的食品或微生物脆弱的生物材料可能会受到保护。这个i-Corps项目基于一种活性碳垫的开发，它可以同时提供硫代葡萄糖酸盐和芥子酶，以延长草莓在受潮时的货架期。活性碳的独特性质使得硫代葡萄糖苷和芥子酶可以分开，但在一个产品中一起输送。活性碳可以对具有不同孔径的分子进行分类。较大的黑芥子酶将停留在外表面，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作用被带出毛孔，并扩散到表面。游离的硫代葡萄糖苷将与碳表面的黑芥子酶一起水解，释放出一种气态的抗菌化合物异硫氰酸酯。这创造了一种具有抑菌或杀菌效果的氛围，这取决于异硫氰酸酯的反应速度和气体浓度。此外，拟议的技术已被证明对气态异硫氰酸盐保存的食品的味道和质地影响最小。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。

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.