I-Corps: Developing Protein-based, Edible Coatings for Perishable Produce to Reduce Food Waste

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is the development of a sustainable coating technology to reduce global food waste and economic losses. Among all foods, fruits and vegetables are the highest categories of losses, with up to 50-60% of produce discarded in landfills. The proposed innovation will provide a desirable and healthy protein-fortified coating for food preservation and upcycle inexpensive food waste materials currently disposed of as landfills.

The coating is washable, edible, and glossy - providing an all-encompassing yet desirable food preservation solution that benefits consumers, sellers, and farmers alike. It extends the post-harvest life of perishable products by reducing maturation, senescence, dehydration, and microbial growth rates. The proposed coating technology will be targeted towards the growing food coating market and will offer significant potential to combat the challenge of food preservation and waste management effectively and simultaneously.

This I-Corps project is based on the development of an eco-friendly and biodegradable protein-based nanocomposite coating that can be applied to the surface of perishable fruits and vegetables of any shape via dip and spray coatings. Agro-derived proteins such as soy and corn will be modified by sequential chemical interactions using an optimized, bio-based plasticizer, crosslinker, and nanomaterials to fabricate the coating.

In the preliminary work, cellulose nanocrystal-reinforced, egg-protein composite coating has significantly extended the shelf life and cosmetic appearance of various fruits, including banana, avocado, strawberry, and papaya. The coating has shown excellent antimicrobial properties and overcomes the significant challenge of simultaneously achieving the lowest oxygen and moisture barrier properties for a natural food coating.

This combination of properties will extend the post-harvest life by reducing maturation, senescence, dehydration, and microbial growth rate. Future efforts include further optimizing materials, chemical modifications, scaling mechanisms from a technical perspective, and assessing business feasibility for potential commercialization.

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.