A food packaging material consisting of bacterial cellulose impregnated with silver nanoparticles has proved successful in doubling the shelf life of fresh tomatoes.
Silver nanoparticles, known for their antimicrobial properties, were incorporated into bacterial cellulose prepared using Gluconacetobacter xylinus bacteria to produce semicrystalline cellulose nanofibre from a standard glucose media. The antimicrobial activity of bacterial cellulose was first tested on bacteria and fungi isolated from rotten tomatoes and later on mixed microbial culture. Composites (bacterial cellulose impregnated with silver nanoparticles) with <2% (w/w) silver showed 99% antimicrobial activity which was sustained for up to 72 hours against spoiled food derived mixed culture. Composites were found to have better antimicrobial activity than colloid with the equivalent amount of silver.
Tomatoes wrapped in the bacterial composite remained fresh and showed no symptoms of decay after 30 days at room temperature, compared with 15 days for tomatoes packed in polyethylene.
Apart from antimicrobial activity, the composite creates favourable conditions for gas and moisture exchange and also acts as an ethylene blocker preventing excess ripening.
In a separate study, a biodegradable nanocomposite film incorporated with microbial synthesized silver nanoparticles improved the shelf life of 'Shan-i-Punjab' peaches, a low chill cultivar which matures in mid-summer in north west India and has a short shelf life. The film - a blend of chitosan and rice starch with good mechanical and tensile strength, and oxygen and water vapour barrier properties - showed antimicrobial activity against Gram-negative (E. coli) and Gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus) human pathogens in in vitro tests.
After 12 days’ storage at 4°C, physiological weight loss was 4.75% in peaches wrapped in the chitosan rice starch composite film with silver nanoparticles, compared with 15.44% in control peaches (no wrapping). Microbial counts on fruit surfaces were also lower in the wrapped fruits compared with control fruits.
This is reported to be the first work on the evaluation of biodegradable rice starch/chitosan nanoparticle-incorporated film for enhancing the shelf life of peaches.
Source: CABI
Announcements
Job Offers
- Sales/Marketing Professional - Europe
- Looking for an opportunity in India
- Procurement & Sales Manager, Potato Division - Lobinstown, Co. Meath, Ireland
- European regional agent and new sales manager
- Head Grower - Owatonna (Minnesota) USA
- Teeltspecialist (Proeftuin & Veredeling) - Hendrik-Ido-Ambacht, Netherlands
- Farm Manager - Riana, Tasmania, Australia
- Industry Development Manager - Rocklea, Australia
- Commercial Manager | Huelva, Spain | Soft Fruits
- Farm manager / Senior grower seeking for his next role
"Tweeting Growers"
Top 5 -yesterday
- Tasmania is home to one of horticulture's hidden gems: hydroponic grown wasabi
- Precision steering for tomato crops thanks to stonewool products
- “We’ve developed tasty, high-yielding, TYLCV-resistant tomato varieties”
- "Local labour can only replace the experienced harvest workers to a limited extent"
- Vertical Farming Congress to be held in London
Top 5 -last week
- Houweling’s Tomatoes wins Ultra-Clima greenhouse court cases and is awarded first sub-licence
- Yesterday was a peculiar day in the horticultural world....
- First report of ToBRFV infecting sweet pepper in Italy
- At least 3 sources of ToBRFV in Dutch tomato cultivation
- Japanese autotech giant Denso invests in Certhon
Top 5 -last month
- Various ways of hydroponic growing in tropical climates
- "Risk of E. coli in hydroponic and aquaponic systems may be greater than once thought"
- Have a look at a container farm in India
- 'Blueberry used to be an extensive crop, but is becoming more and more intensive"
- Overview: Global impact of Corona virus on fresh produce markets
Receive the daily newsletter in your email for free | Click here
Other news in this sector:
- 2018-04-30 Netherlands: Local ties, sustainability and countering food waste
- 2018-04-27 US: Fresh processor now bringing fresh cut produce coast to coast
- 2018-04-26 US (VA): Organic farm uses cooling system to improve handling
- 2018-04-25 “We provide remote, in-transit corrective actions to containerized shipments”
- 2018-04-24 Vegetable packer launches new veggie noodles and rice
- 2018-04-23 Europe uses Dutch calculation model for risk assessment of pesticides
- 2018-04-20 Study shows reusable plastic containers emit 60% less CO2
- 2018-04-19 Microsoft and Bühler looking to close the chain
- 2018-04-18 "After all, you want your product to reach the customer in perfect order"
- 2018-04-17 Chopped kits are biggest segment in salad category
- 2018-04-16 NASA using Modified Atmosphere Packaging to send produce into space
- 2018-04-13 Ultra-thin MA film seeks to revolutionize packaging
- 2018-04-12 Nanocomposites improve tomato and peach shelf life
- 2018-04-11 Italy: Only three hours between harvesting and freezing
- 2018-04-10 “Vegetable spaghetti is now a consumer product”
- 2018-04-09 Italy: Strawberries reach consumers in 24 hours
- 2018-04-06 Blockchain and cryptocurrency to usher in new era for supply chains
- 2018-04-05 Non-invasive tool to assess fruit ripeness
- 2018-04-04 Thailand: Call to innovation in climate controlled post-harvest
- 2018-04-03 Special Post-Harvest at HortiDaily this month
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|