Globally, high food waste, especially of fresh produce, is a major issue at the society. About 11 million tons of food was wasted in Germany in 2020. Fresh produce get often spoiled due to microbial contamination and natural ripening processes. Edible coatings based on natural materials like polysaccharides, proteins, and lipids, offer a sustainable alternative to plastic packaging which can protect fresh production by reducing moisture loss, gas exchange or protecting from microbial contamination. Edible coatings can be also enhanced with natural additives to improve their antimicrobial and antioxidant activity.
At the Fraunhofer Institute, my research focuses on testing polyphenolic compounds with antimicrobial activity. Some of selected compounds have significantly changed the surface of carrots. Organoleptic changes in fresh produce caused by edible coating are unacceptable and cannot be sold to customers. This makes some polyphenolic compounds unsuitable. However, I have selected a promising natural compound that shows antimicrobial activity. This compound has been tested on carrots without causing significant organoleptic changes. Despite this, there are challenges, such as low water solubility or oxidative reaction on the surface of the fresh produce. So far these compound has been tested only on carrots. The next step it to test it in on different types of produce or to add antioxidant to the composition.