Background
The agricultural and food industry is moving towards more sustainable solutions to daily challenges, particularly those that combat food waste. Produce is often stored for periods of time which can lead to decay caused by pathogenic sources, particularly fungi. Therefore, alternative solutions are required to minimize crop losses at the post-harvest stage.
Constraints
post-harvest fungicides should be:
- Be derived from natural sources (must not contain living organisms)
- Ideally be applied as a fog, mist, gas or through sublimation, but aqueous applications are also envisaged
- Non-phytotoxic to target produce
- Must be scalable
Possible Solution Areas
(include but are not limited to)
- Extracts and compounds derived from plants
- Metabolites
- Peptides
- RNAi
- Food industry by-products
- Natural oils
Related Tech Needs
Offering: Natural Antimicrobial for Licensing or Acquisition
Seeking: Biological Approaches to Solidify Saturated Soils
Photo Credit: RD Law from Pixabay
