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Liquidseal from Leiden developed an edible coating that makes fruits and vegetables last longer. This protective coating is already on the market for avocados and mangoes. The coating reduces food waste and the use of packaging material. Experts in preservation are enthusiastic, as long as food safety is not compromised.

Of the food produced annually worldwide, one-third goes to waste, totaling some 1.3 billion tons. Some of that spoils between harvest and consumption. To counteract this, the company Liquidseal from Leiden, South Holland, has developed an edible coating. This keeps fruits and vegetables fresh up to two times longer and also reduces the use of environmentally damaging packaging.

Liquidseal's general manager, Victor Monster, has developed an edible coating.

General manager Victor Monster explains that fruits and vegetables continue to "breathe" after harvesting and that the coating slows down this process. Liquidseal uses plant-based components that also protect the product from drying out.

Liquidseal was founded in 2005 by four people from the same street in Oegstgeest. They came up with a liquid to extend the shelf life of flower bulbs. After years of experimentation, the initiators were at a trade fair with their lily bulb coating. There they came into contact with rose importers who were struggling with botrytis infections during transport of the flowers.

The company entered the market in 2011 with a protective coating that extends the shelf life of roses. That product generated enough revenue to enable research into a coating for fruits and vegetables. The initial focus was on hard-skinned fruits: avocados, citrus, mangoes and papayas. Liquidseal came to market in 2018 with the first fruit coatings, which are applied to the product by dipping or spraying.

Less weight loss

Tests by the Institute for Innovation and Development in Agrifood in Michoacan, Mexico, showed that the coating not only improves the shelf life of mangoes and avocados, but also prevents weight loss. The agent also preserves sugar content and color. Total Exotics in Bleiswijk has been importing Liquidseal-coated avocados and mangoes from South America for Scandinavian and Belgian supermarket chains since the beginning of this year.

According to Monster, the innovative coating is in line with the agreements from the European Green Deal to reduce the amount of packaging material and combat food waste. Above all, sustainable packaging must be functional and protect fruit and vegetables from spoilage and damage, adds Jenneke Heising. She is doing research at Wageningen University & Research on intelligent packaging that monitors food quality. She is positive about coating as a solution to prevent spoilage.

An important criterion, she says, is that the coating on a product must be biodegradable and safe. She sees an addition of antimicrobials and antioxidants to prevent spoilage as a valuable addition. 'There are enough natural and safe variants of these available, such as citric acid and extracts from mustard seed, broccoli and essential oils.'

Heising also advocates additional packaging that can monitor the quality of fruits and vegetables, by measuring, for example, temperature, humidity and the production of ethylene and microorganisms. 'But only if reduced food waste outweighs the disadvantages of such additional packaging. In sustainability, you always have to look at the effects throughout the chain.'

Sustainability ladder

The Sustainable Packaging Knowledge Institute (KIDV) is also watching with interest the rise of sealing fruits and vegetables. 'In making packaging more sustainable, it is important that it does not produce food waste or litter and that it is easily recyclable or reusable,' says packaging expert Marcel Keuenhof. 'Alternatives that make packaging unnecessary, such as coatings, naturally also score high on the sustainability ladder.'

The laws and regulations in the European Union governing the food safety of packaging include a focus on the migration of substances into food, such as mineral oils from printing inks. KIDV will soon release a series of fact sheets, including on issues such as mineral oils and heavy metals in packaging.

'Migration is only allowed if it does not pose a health risk and that will also apply to coatings,' Keuenhof argues. In addition to food safety, he mentions the effect of the interaction of the packaging material or coating on the taste or color of the product.

Liquidseal is developing the coating recipe for pineapples and bananas and has already done tests on apples, pears and plums. The same applies to cucumbers, onions, tomatoes and peppers. 'A coating on those products is allowed in the United States, for example, but unfortunately not yet in Europe,' Monster says. 'We are in talks with Brussels about this.'

Source: new Harvest