Say goodbye to plastic! The lipid of the fruit is used as a fresh-keeping coating, and the international supermarket chain giant Tesco has taken action.
Tesco, one of the world's top three retailers, is trialling plant-based food protection brand Apeel to extend the shelf life of fruits and vegetables. This protective extra "peel" slows down moisture loss and oxidation that lead to product spoilage.
The trial will be carried out in around 80 large supermarkets around the Peterborough area of the UK, where Apeel uses plant-derived lipids and glycerides – found in the peels, seeds and pulp of all the fruits and vegetables we already eat – to make the fruit fresh-keeping coating. When they did, they built a film that could lock in moisture and repel oxygen.
After experiments, Apeel found that the coating, in addition to extending the life of the avocados by almost a week and doubling the ripening period from two to four days, the company says it can reduce by 30 percent compared to untreated avocados moisture loss, and a softening rate of 60%.
