Hazel Technologies, Inc. — Department of Agriculture SBIR Phase I: 8.13

Description

50% of produce goes uneaten. Loss in the produce supply chain costs $80B eachyear in the United States and represents a tremendous waste of key natural resources:land water and energy. A major cause of loss in the agricultural supply chain is spoilagebrought on by fungi and bacteria. Post-harvest pathogenic damage can be mitigated bya variety of strategies such as applying fungicides ozone chlorine or selectively ripeningthe produce near the point of consumer purchase. Often these techniques are notsuitable options due to consumer preference or specific commodity demands. This projectseeks to develop a system for integrating sustained delivery of organic fungicides intohorticultural product packaging. Specifically this research targets the berry and grapeproduce commodities.Several essential oil derivatives of herbs are known to possess fungicidalproperties. However application of these low-volatility oils as sprays can result inundesirable organoleptic effects such as changes to the taste profiles of targetcommodities. This project will develop a method to deliver volatile active ingredients overtime via an in-package insert. By deploying the active ingredient essential oils as a low- concentration vapor we aim to slow fungal growth without negatively affecting tasteprofile. We measure success by quantifying fungal growth suppression in vitro across arange of release materials. Essential oil release can be quantified by a range ofrd established material science characterization techniques. A 3 party taste panel willscreen final formulations for organoleptic effects. Finally in partnership with establishedberry firms we will test our product's capacity to reduce fungal growth in commercialenvironments.