Introduction

The Indian fruits and vegetable market is one of the largest in the world. It has certain unique characteristics viz. high wastage in value chain, weak transportation and storage infrastructure, low tech harvestings, low usage in food processing and relatively low exports. As a result a large volumes of fruits and vegetables are wasted every year. In order to overcome the above constrains, coatings for extension of life of fruits and vegetables (without refrigeration) has been developed.

These simple technologies are based upon the method for isolation of the natural active ingredient and its conversion to various fruit specific formulations which are cost-effective and have been found to substantially increase the shelf life of fruits and vegetables without refrigeration and resorting to cold storage and other shelf life extension methodologies. The formulations are derived from the natural ingredient and recognized GRAS (generally regarded as safe) materials. Applications are highly fruit and vegetable specific and have been optimized for specific varieties as well as the localized agro-climatic conditions etc.

Process

The coating active is a natural oligomeric terpenoidal component obtained from natural lac resin after extensive treatment involving solvent reflux, filtration, precipitation, charcoalization, decolourization and fractionation. The purified material is then formulated into various fruit specific formulations by using GRAS additives in the form of biodegradable emulsions. The fruits and vegetables are then washed with the emulsion by the spray or the dip coating techniques by using a specially designed and fabricated fruit coating machine for extension of shelf life. The coating dries up with in half to two minutes depending upon fruit at the ambient temperature. The washed fruits remain fresh and juicy as they were freshly harvested for much longer periods than the uncoated or unwashed fruits depending upon the fruit, time of harvest and the concentration of the coating as determined by the time for which the fruits are kept in contact with the coating emulsions. Some of the fruits and vegetables that can be coated are:

Fruits : Apples, plumbs, oranges, sweet lime, grapes, pears

Vegetables : lemons, tomatoes, brinjal, capsicum

Advantages:

Protects fresh produce in 3-way effect

- Physical injury protection

- Delays ripening processes to increase shelf life without resorting to refrigeration or cold storage

- Anti-bacterial effect for external pests

Are customized to various specific fruit & vegetable for optimal performance in the local agro climatic conditions
Natural and GRAS ingredients – excellent alternative to wax and synthetic commercial products
Prevents physiological weight loss
Preserves natural texture, colour, chewiness, springiness, crunchiness, etc

Applications:

These products significantly enhance shelf life of fruit & vegetables without refrigeration and resorting to cold storage
Preservation of fruits and vegetables without alteration in natural colour and texture characteristics
Maintenance of natural gloss of fruits and vegetables without waxing
Have several related benefits such as customization for cut-fruits, flowers & cut flowers, coated seed products and meat etc.

Specifications of the product

Fruit active is a White powder, soluble in methanol, ethanol, insoluble in water, m.p. 78-82oC, with Carbonyl and OH absorptions in the IR spectrum.

The product is formulated into suitable oil in water type emulsion concentrates for different fruits by using GRAS ingredients, stable for two years as determined by the FT-IR spectral analysis of the fruit active at regular period when kept at room temperature.

Scale of development

Lab level and pilot plant level (3 Kg per batch of raw material)

Data available for pilot and lab level.

The efficacy of technology has been demonstrated in the different states of the Indian Union [U.P., Uttranchal, Delhi, Chandigarh, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Jammu & Kashmir (through J&K Fruit Growers Association)] to officers of defence, academics, general public, farmers, orchard owners, fruit and vegetable markets, APMCs, Corporate like HPMC and NGO’s like IDC Foundation etc.

Suggested commercial plant capacity : Initially 500 Kg per day, this capacity can be slowly increased to higher outputs.

No. of shifts : 2 (8hrs/day)

Working days/year : 300

Raw material & utilities : One tonne of raw material would provide about 750 Kg of the material sufficient for preparing 8000 Kilolitres formulation. One liter of this formulation is suitable for about 100kgs of fruits and vegetables. Major raw materials: Hexane, Methanol and Lac.

Utilities : Steam, Water for cooling, R.O.Water , Power, Refrigeration System

Major Equipment :

Storage vessels, Jacketed Reactors, Pulviresers, Filtration Unit, Dryer with micro sieve drying system, Coating machine, Transfer pumps etc.

Manpower requirement : 15-20 in total

Total area and Covered area in Sq. Mts. 2000 Sq. Meters which would include solvent storage tanks and essential utilities etc.

Details on Shelf life of the product: Typical extension of shelf life of different fruits without refrigeration at ambient temperatures are given below. Exact data can be given as a part of technology transfer.

Apples : 6-8 weeks more than the uncoated apples

Plums : 2 weeks

Babbugosha : 12 days

Tomatoes : 2 weeks

Capsicum : 2 weeks

Oranges : 3-4 weeks

Kashmiri nakh : 4-5 weeks

Analysis data, other data viz. microbiological, chewiness, gumminess, TSS, TDS, Juice and carbohydrate contents etc are available.

Tests Conducted

The product is non toxic even at 5000 mg/kg of body weight in mice. Toxicity/safety reports are available.

Intellectual Property

Several patents already filed
Collaboration Options: JV/alliances for manufacturing, marketing and technology alliances
IPR details - Patents: Available