Serbian Scientists Develop Spray Which Extends Food Freshness by Ten Days

Big chemical companies are constantly trying to find a solution for how to keep fruit and vegetables fresh for a long time. But, no one has come up with a biopolymer-based spray, non-toxic and fully safe for people and the environment, which prevents the development of bacteria and mold, as the main causes of food spoiling, until now.

A team from the Institute for Interdisciplinary Research of the University of Belgrade has come up with a whole new natural way of helping extend the freshness of fruit and vegetables by ten days. Another thing that makes this solution original is that the spray is applied to the packaging and not the products.

– It could be cardboard, paper, plastic, wood, and when applied, a thin, transparent layer is formed on the packaging material, whose function is to protect the food we are packing – says Zorica Brankovic of the Institute for Interdisciplinary Research.

It is not known how big the losses are that pertain to the fruit and vegetables that lose their freshness on the way from the producers through distribution chains and storage spaces to store shelves, or in the situations when the truck stays a day or two longer at the border checkpoint due to unforeseen circumstances.

– When storing, special systems of preserving the fruit and vegetables are usually used. So, there are chambers which feature special microclimate conditions, controlled atmosphere… Those conditions are difficult to secure later in the chain. This new polymer-based product is a new perspective – says Aleksandar Bogunovic, the secretary of the Association for the Food Industry at the Chamber of Commerce of Serbia (CCIS).

The first stop on the road, where they also plan to start the production, is China.

– With time, it has turned out that there’s more interest from foreign investors in this than in our market, which I find truly surprising, considering the enormous potentials for the use of this product, so we will certainly not neglect our market and we will try to launch the production here as well – Brankovic adds.

In the world, a third of the food ends up as waste, which is a loss of around USD 1,200 billion. What we don’t see is that this food waste produces 8% of the carbon-dioxide emissions a year. Serbia contributes as well, because, here, 83 kilograms of food per capita is thrown away annually.

Institute for Interdisciplinary Research of the University of Belgrade

Association for the Food Industry of the CCIS

Zorica Brankovic

Aleksandar Bogunovic

polymer based spray

biopolymer

spray

food

food freshness

fruit

vegetables