Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Guwahati, directed by Professor Vimal Katiyar of the Department of Chemical Engineering and the Centre for Excellence in Sustainable Polymers (CoE-SusPol), have developed an edible coating to help fruits and vegetables last longer.
Professor Vimal Katiyar and Professor Vaibhav V Goud, Department of Chemical Engineering, IIT Guwahati, and CoE-SusPol, IIT Guwahati, were members of the research team, along with their research scholars Ms Kona Mondal, Ms Tabli Ghosh, Ms Mandavi Goswami, Ms Shikha Sharma, and Sonu Kumar.
This coating material was tested on vegetables such as potatoes, tomatoes, green chilli, and strawberries, as well as Khasi mandarin, apples, pineapples, and kiwifruits. It was discovered that these vegetables may be kept fresh for nearly two months.
The researchers at IIT Guwahati believe that their findings could help the country fulfil the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) goal 12.3, which aims to reduce food losses along the production and supply chains, including post-harvest losses.
Professor Vimal Katiyar, Department of Chemical Engineering, IIT Guwahati, and CuSPol, IIT Guwahati, highlighted the need for such research, saying, “According to the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, between 4.6 and 15.9 percent of fruits and vegetables go waste post-harvest, partly due to poor storage conditions.
In fact, post-harvest loss in certain produce items like potato, onion and tomato could be as high as 19 per cent, which results in high prices for this highly consumed commodity.”
The IIT Guwahati team created protective, edible films for coating on vegetables and fruits by combining a microalgae extract and polysaccharides. The biosafety of these coatings was also verified by treating BHK-21 cells with these coating materials. Their testing revealed that these coating materials were harmless and could be employed as edible food packaging materials with confidence.
Professor Vimal Katiyar, Department of Chemical Engineering, IIT Guwahati, spoke about the developed biodegradable coating. “The newly-developed coatings can be mass-produced and are unique.
They are very stable to light, heat and temperature up to 40oC, edible and can be safely eaten as part of the product formulation and do not add unfavourable properties to it. They retain the texture, colour, appearance, flavour, nutritional value and microbial safety of the fruit or vegetable that has been coated, thereby enhancing their shelf life to several weeks to months”.
This study’s findings were published in major journals such as Royal Society of Chemistry Advances, Food Packaging and Shelf Life, Food Chemistry, IJBM, ACS-JAFC, and American Chemical Society’s Food Science and Technology.