B-shelf

Project "B-shelf" data sheet

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 Partnership

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 Project objective

Almost half of the fruits and vegetables production is lost before it is consumed by people. Dehydration is considered the main driver of quality decrease and promoter of fungi/bacteria proliferation. Taking into account that contamination occurs due to water loss and the action of fungi/bacteria, the reduction of the product shelf-life can be summarized as the combination of the above factors. Consequently, marketing of products that have suffered significant water loss and spoilage becomes difficult; therefore key participants on the post-harvest sector is on demand of solutions able to extend the shelf-life of fruits and vegetables and thus increase the profitability of their activities. Our innovative project B-Shelf is based on the concept of active packaging, thus the development of an edible coating with inherent fungicidal properties. We offer our ground-breaking proprietary micro-encapsulated technology of essential oils, taking advantage of their ability to erase fungal activity, combined with an eco-friendly edible coating based on polysaccharides formulations able to prevent dehydration. Thus, the two main aspects that promote rotting in fruits and vegetables are addressed; improving their storage stability and extending their effective post-harvesting life is extended by 50-100%. The overall objective of B-Shelf project is to speed up the commercialization of an eco-innovative edible coating (GRAS) with associated benefits able to disrupt the post-harvesting and in-storage market of fruits and vegetables. Thus, European and global challenges regarding food losses reduction along the value-chain are met and the competiveness on the European agri-sector is increased.