Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - ALOEco (ALOe vera Edible Coating: effective, safe and sustainable post-harvest treatment to enhance shelf-life of vegetables)

Teaser

The demand for fruits and vegetables is growing across the globe as they are perceived as healthy. This has led to their growing trade globally, exposing them to long commercialization chains. Storage and transport greatly affect the quality, safety and physical aspect of the...

Summary

The demand for fruits and vegetables is growing across the globe as they are perceived as healthy. This has led to their growing trade globally, exposing them to long commercialization chains. Storage and transport greatly affect the quality, safety and physical aspect of the product. Since food appearance remains the most required attribute, strongly affecting consumer decision to buy it or not, the loss of firmness and colour and variations in flavour and aroma imply that up to 45% of fruits and vegetables produced globally become unfit for consumption when they reach the target markets. This accounts for a huge loss of valuable food.

Work performed

The Technical Feasibility Assessment allowed us to select those coatings formulations with best performance (in terms of increased survival rate, reduced weight loss and improved organoleptic characteristics) as well as define the best coating application procedure. In the Commercial Feasibility Study, we analysed the post-harvest treatment market and the fresh fruit and vegetable market. We also established our commercial strategy and identified the most relevant stakeholders and update our Freedom to Operate, as well as investigate the regulations we have to comply with before commercialization. Finally, in the Financial Feasibility Study, we determined the production costs, update the sales forecast and carry out a conservative cash flow for the 5 years after Phase 2 project completion.

Final results

ALOEco are organic, edible Aloe vera-based coatings for the post-harvest treatment of fresh and minimally processed fruit and vegetables. The coatings, made of natural ingredients only, acts as a barrier against water vapor and gases and protects the food from chemical and microbiological activities. This way, the organoleptic, nutritional and healthy quality of the fresh produce is maintained for longer, enabling the extension of shelf-life up to 48% for longer storage and commercialization. Consequently, our environmentally friendly coatings will contribute to the reduction of F&V losses. Moreover, ALOEco are enriched with natural antioxidants that increase produce nutritional value. Our edible coatings will serve as an alternative to the use of more expensive and/or dangerous technologies and will also eliminate (or greatly reduce) the need for post-harvest chemical fungicides due to Aloe vera natural antimicrobial and antifungal properties.