Those lovely fresh fruits and vegetables stocked in your local store look picture perfect. For a time. But, sadly, as every consumer who overbuys lettuce knows all too well, beauty fades.
Scientists are focusing on a delicate balancing act for food preservation. They want to ward off the harmful bacteria and protect the appearance, nutritional content, flavor, and textures of the food.
One new technique uses a high-intensity blue light that produces a form of oxygen deadly to foodborne pathogens. Another uses a cold plasma cloud to produce a mixture of hydrogen peroxide, nitrous oxide, and other compounds that kill bacteria. Another innovation that has drawn the interest of General Mills and Pillsbury is bacteriophages on salads and berries that can eat bacteria like salmonella and listeria.
Apeel Sciences, a company dedicated to fighting food waste, is using a recently developed technique to protect fruits and vegetables up to three times longer than usual, according to The Wall Street Journal. They used organic by-products like grape skins to create an ultrathin edible coating that slows down evaporation and oxidation on the surface of the food. Additionally, they can apply the product to the crops on the field before harvest which allows the fruit to be picked at peak ripeness, maximizing quality and taste.