Buying avocados is one of the biggest challenges of grocery shopping for many consumers. After all, it is very difficult to determine when an avocado is ripe. Consequently, many avocados also end up in the bin. An American company has now developed an edible coating that keeps avocados fresh for weeks longer.
It is the annoyance of many an avocado eater. You buy the avocado ripe, but if you wait just too long, the avocado will be brown and you can throw it away. To solve this problem, US researchers have developed an edible vegetable protective coating. This can also be used for apples, bananas and strawberries, for example.
Oxygen outside
The coating was developed by US company Apeel Sciences and has been officially on the market in the US since this week. The protective coating better keeps water in and oxygen out of the fruit. These factors greatly affect shelf life. Apeel Sciences has been working on the coating for about six years with the aim of reducing food waste. Made from leftover plant peels and stems, the coating traps an avocado's moisture once it dries. While avocados shipped to supermarkets are refrigerated during transport, they usually lose their freshness at a rapid pace once they are on the shop floor.
"Refrigeration is typically used to increase product quality during transport and storage, but you lose the benefits of refrigeration once fruit is on shop shelves or on a countertop," James Rogers, CEO of Apeel Sciences told Business Insider. "With our technology, we are able to stop time, so to speak." The US company has received at least $40 million in investment, including from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Apeel avocados are receiving an enthusiastic response on social media. Apeel Sciences hopes to use the coating for other foods in the future, including other fruits and vegetables. In December last year, UK retailer Mark & Spencer was already selling seedless avocados with an edible skin. It is not yet known whether the Apeel avocados will also come to the Netherlands.
Source: Business Insider.
