MIRTECH INC. — Department of Agriculture SBIR Phase I: 8.5

Description

The objective of this project is to develop an in-transit ripening technology for pears that would help fulfill the long sought need of the industry, which is to deliver and display ripened ready-to-eat pears year-round at retail. The motivation is to overcome the limitations of the current supply chain logistics wherein fruits may be delivered to retail in lower than desirable consumer preferred eating quality which would impact repeat sales and subsequent consumption of fresh pears. The proposed technology will help the industry improve distribution efficiency and tap into new market segments such as quick service restaurants, school meal programs, long distance domestic and international export markets for fresh pears and other climacteric fruits.The technology is typically used in long distance transits (for example, from a producer in Oregon to a distribution center in Michigan) which allow sufficient time for the technology to work properly. An optional component of this technology is to include 1-methylcyclopropene gas (1-MCP) for quality management of the ripened fruits at the distribution centers. This would help delay further ripening and provide a sufficient marketing/consumer consumption window of 7 to 8 days that would fit well with the once a week shopping habit of majority of American consumers.In Phase I, we will develop an ethylene encapsulation system, in the form of a powder or gel, to be placed inside a water vapor permeable sachet. The release of ethylene can be activated by water vapor generated from the respiration of fresh pears during transit.The technical objective is to optimize the ethylene adsorption structures to provide the desirable release profiles of ethylene for ripening pears and other fruits. Our team has many years of experience working with fresh fruits including pears, encapsulation technology, and shelf life extension technologies. This experience will help ensure the success of this project. We also have strong support from the produce industry, which will provide us with guidance and technical assistance for the development and commercialization of our technology. Besides fresh market pear, the application of our technology will be extended to other fruits in Phase II of this project.