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nafex - [NAFEX] FW: Fresh Fruit Gets a New Protective Coat

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  • From: "Lon J. Rombough" <lonrom@hevanet.com>
  • To: Agrisynergy <Agrisynergy@maelstrom.stjohns.edu>
  • Cc: NAFEX <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [NAFEX] FW: Fresh Fruit Gets a New Protective Coat
  • Date: Wed, 21 Aug 2002 07:18:27 -0700


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From: ARS News Service <NewsService@ars.usda.gov>
Reply-To: ARS News Service <NewsService@ars.usda.gov>
Date: Wed, 21 Aug 2002 08:45:42 -0400
To: ARS News subscriber <lonrom@hevanet.com>
Subject: Fresh Fruit Gets a New Protective Coat

STORY LEAD:
Fresh Fruit Gets a New Protective Coat

___________________________________________

ARS News Service
Agricultural Research Service, USDA
Rosalie Marion Bliss, (301) 504-4318, rbliss@ars.usda.gov
August 21, 2002
___________________________________________

Apples and citrus are about to get a uniform new coat. But it's not to keep
the fruit warm on cold orchard nights. Instead, these coatings act as
biofungicides that keep fruit fresh longer during storage.

Agricultural Research Service scientists have been working to improve
earlier biofungicides aimed at controlling decay of fruits and vegetables
after harvest. Such fungal decay can destroy more than 25 percent of the
world's harvested fruit.

Biological products, such as friendly yeasts, are used for environmentally
safe pest control and to reduce dependence on synthetic chemicals. They work
by consuming nutrients on fruit and vegetable skins that otherwise would
allow rot-causing fungi to grow.

Charles L. Wilson, a plant pathologist with the ARS Appalachian Fruit
Research Station, Kearneysville, W.Va., and Ahmed El Ghaouth, a postharvest
plant pathologist employed by Micro Flo Co. of Memphis, Tenn., conducted
research leading to two patents issued this year.

One of the two new patents discloses how chitosan, a natural fungicide, can
be compatibly combined with an antagonistic yeast named Candida saitoana by
adding a softener. Antagonistic yeast organisms are normally found on fruit
and vegetable skins, but are benign to people. The other patent approved
this year discloses a mixture of C. saitoana with lysozyme, an antifungal
enzyme.

Development of postharvest biological products based on technology described
in the patents is being furthered by Micro Flo, a subsidiary of the
international chemical company BASF, through a cooperative research and
development agreement. Micro Flo is pursuing the lysozyme and C. saitoana
mixture to create a product named Biocure.

The annual worldwide market for postharvest treatments is currently more
than $18 million for citrus and more than $8 million for apples, according
to El Ghaouth.

ARS is the U.S. Department of Agriculture's chief scientific research
agency.

___________________________________________

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  • [NAFEX] FW: Fresh Fruit Gets a New Protective Coat, Lon J. Rombough, 08/21/2002

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