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Edible coating allows avocados to stay ripe for twice as long
Avocados that stay ripe for twice as long as usual thanks to an edible barrier made from plant materials will be sold in the US for the first time this week.
The tasteless coating, developed by Santa Barbara company Apeel Sciences, controls the two main factors that cause fresh produce to go bad: the rate at which water escapes the surface of fruit and vegetables and the rate at which oxygen enters. This allows treated produce to stay fresh for longer. "We're creating an optimised microclimate that can double the shelf life [of the fruit]," said James Rogers, CEO of Apeel Sciences. "The average avocado might be ripe for 2-3 days. Ours will stay ripe for 4-6 days."
[...] Although Apeel is starting with avocados, the coating's formulation can be modified to create optimal conditions for other items including strawberries, mangoes, apples, bananas, kumquats and asparagus. [...] From this week, the Apeel-treated avocados – grown by California-based Del Rey Avocado – will be available in Costco and Harp Foods stores across the midwest, before rolling out across the United States.
[...] The coating can also extend the life of produce in developing countries where refrigeration is not widely available across the supply chain, which explains why the company launched in 2012 with funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The company has carried out pilots in Nigeria and Kenya, treating cassava root and mangoes.
Also at Fast Company, Fortune, and Delish.
(Score: 4, Informative) by goodie on Wednesday June 20 2018, @05:40PM
The problem for me is *when* the thing will be ripe. In stores, it is usually not ripe yet or over-ripe. I then have to plan when it will be ripe and put it next to bananas and other fruit to fasten/slow down the ripening process based on my meal plans. Avocado is tricky I find. Good, but tricky nonetheless... I'm not 100% sure of the usefulness of the process though, most of the time, the store has fruit that is not ripe enough rather than the other way around. At least from my experience.