JUN INNOVATIONS INC — Department of Agriculture SBIR Phase II: 8.5

Description

Jun Innovations has developed a proprietary supercooling technology that preserves perishable materials at below-freezing temperatures without the formation of ice crystals. Foods are maintained in their natural state for weeks with the same taste, texture, nutrition, and moisture content they had before being supercooled. This technology offers a radically new food preservation method for consumers and the commercial food industry. The goal of the proposed Phase II project is to develop commercially viable supercooling units for technology demonstration and licensing negotiation with interested partners, including major home appliance manufacturers. In conventional refrigerators food items are frozen among ice crystals and their quality is compromised once they are thawed. Supercooling involves cooling of biological samples below a phase transition temperature in a balanced state leading to prevention of their cellular activity. In this supercooled state, damage by freezing such as protein denaturation and cellular structure injuries can be avoided. The proposed research work plan includes improvement of the supercooling stability regardless of any interfering environmental variants and the consistency with diverse perishable materials when the invention is scaled up for commercialization. Our primary strategy is to continue development and optimization of our currently working prototype, with the initial goal of producing prosumer-oriented appliances such as a stand-alone supercooling unit similar to a freezer while seeking licensing agreements to generate cash flow. Once this product line and revenue stream has been established, we can develop further applications for the commercial food industry, leading to the evolution of the food cold chain system.