Perspectives Issue 2 / December 2016

Developing the next generation of food packaging We all want our fruit and vegetables to be kept fresh for as longer as possible and its packaging plays a vital role in this. Our Soil and Agrifood Institute is developing innovative and cost-effective next generation modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) for prolonged storage and improved management of fresh produce throughout the supply chain. The control of respiratory gases within a storage or packaging environment is often used to extend the postharvest storage and shelf- life of fresh fruit and veg, so reducing wastage in the supply chain. Current MAP already extends the postharvest quality of fresh produce but its performance is often limited by an inability to respond to the changing physiology of the produce, leading to the development of suboptimal gas conditions. To achieve a year-round supply in the UK, most apples are typically stored for up to six months, depending on variety. This means the supply of UK-grown top fruit is restricted to a small marketing window, from September through to March, due to late-stored fruit not competing well in terms of quality with new season fruit from the Southern Hemisphere. Now in an effort to extend the ‘flavour-life’ of UK apples by up to six weeks, our researchers in the Soil and Agrifood Institute are employing state-of-the-art sensors allied to improved postharvest storage. Professor Leon Terry, Director of Environment and Agrifood, said: “This is building upon our recent research to develop novel sensors to better inform targeted controlled atmosphere to suppress ripening while maintaining flavour, offering the ability to extend storage and so help reduce waste and the reliance on imports. “The British apple industry is continuously being asked by UK retailers to extend availability and this can only be achieved by implementing ever more sophisticated storage technologies. “We need to improve how apples are stored so that the focus is moved towards 'flavour-life' rather than just being driven by firmness and sugar content. If we control ripening while maintaining 'flavour-life', we can make incremental increases in storage time to help reduce a reliance on imports and extend the window in which high-quality British fruit can be offered.” We are collaborating with supermarket giants Tesco, as well as Avalon Produce, Richard Hochfeld, Chelsea Technologies Group and UNIVEG Katope UK, on the three-year project which is being funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and Innovate UK. Consumers want to enjoy, and retailers want to sell, fruit grown in the UK which retains its full flavour for longer. Every little helps in extending the flavour-life of apples

Fruit and vegetables are mainly grown in the driest parts of the UK, such as East Anglia or the South East, where water resources are also under most pressure due to factors like an increasing population. Countries which are major exporters of fruit and vegetables to the UK – like Spain, South Africa, Kenya and Morocco – also suffer similar pressures as water resources are even more scarce there. With fresh fruit and veg such an important part of our diet, we are looking at ways of increasing resilience to water- related risks in the UK system. Water-related risks include its physical availability which means that we might not be able to produce so much and prices go up as a result, reputational risks when environmental issues are highlighted in the media, and also regulatory risks like irrigation being restricted if there is a drought or introducing legislation for environmental reasons. Dr Tim Hess from Cranfield Water Science Institute is leading on the project. He said: “We are examining the dilemma that the consumption of fresh fruit and vegetables is encouraged, versus the fact that water resources are under real pressure both in the UK and overseas in the places where fruit and vegetables are grown. “We will be exploring ways of increasing resilience to water- related risks in the system at all levels from farmers, to suppliers and retailers, through to consumers, and seeing if their needs are compatible or in conflict with each other. “We don’t want to be importing food to the UK while ‘exporting’ drought; the fact that fresh fruit may always be available in this country might actually be detrimental to farmers or the environment in other countries, for instance.” The near £1.3 million three-year project, which started in October, is a collaboration with the University of East Anglia, NIAB EMR (formerly East Malling Research) and University of Oxford. It is one of five new interdisciplinary research projects, totalling £9 million, helping to ensure the UK’s future food security. Under the banner of the UK’s Global Food Security Programme, they are being funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), with the Scottish Government also co-funding one of the projects. Increasing resilience to water-related risks in the UK fresh fruit and veg system

Sustainable potato storage

There’s more science going into the humble ‘spud’ than you might imagine – our Soil and Agrifood Institute is also researching new and cost-effective technologies for the storage of potatoes. There is a need to find alternatives to the chemical chlorpropham (CIPC), which is commonly used to manage sprouting, as further restrictions are coming into force. We are aiming to develop storage interventions for processing potatoes which will suppress sprouting and maintain low sugars, paramount for supply quality and to minimise the formation of acrylamide. This will hopefully lead to an incremental reduction in CIPC usage. The four-year project in collaboration with PepsiCo started in 2015, and is funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and Innovate UK.

Working with sustainable technologies leaders Johnson Matthey, we are focusing on developing the next generation of MAP by administering the ideal gaseous conditions at the optimum time.

Professor Leon Terry, Director of Environment and Agrifood, said: “The packaging would benefit considerably if it is made flexible so that it responds to the changing physiology of the produce. In doing so, we will extend the storage of fruit and vegetables on farms and reduce waste throughout the supply chain.”

Work on the three-year project, funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and Innovate UK, started in October.

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