Researchers at Apeel Sciences, are working on increasing the shelf life of fruit and vegetables. James Rogers, CEO of Apeel, has developed a substance that is comprised of plant lipid (fatty acids). The substance is sprayed on produce and allowed to dry. This second skin increases produce shelf life by two to three times.
A college of Rogers, Daniel Costanza, said, ”This is the type of technology you look back on as revolutionary. I hold it up there with electricity or the internet”.
Applications for such technology will address key issues within food and beverage science such as microbial contamination, refrigeration and storage issues. There is also the environmental impact of this technology as One of Apeel customers have already declared they will no longer use plastic wrap on cucumbers now that Apeel’s spray is in the mix.
“Imagine adding that to each food category throughout the globe,” Costanza says. “That’s a huge paradigm shift away from single-use plastics. It’s pretty crazy.” Costanza drops his voice, getting serious. “This is the type of technology you look back on as revolutionary. I hold it up there with electricity or the internet. There are so many lives we can affect in a positive way. And we have such tight intellectual property no one’s really able to replicate it – we don’t really have competition.”
Second Skin Technology Increases Produce Shelf Life