Stone fruits represent a subgroup of sweet fruits that include Prunus species, namely cherries, plums, apricots and peaches. In Spain, sales of stone fruits represent nowadays up to 100M€ anually, a third of it coming only from plums and cherries sales. However, due to the perishability of stone fruits, up to a 25% of the total production is dismissed during postharvest, mainly due to fruit decay caused by firmness and organoleptic losses, as well as pathogen infection. The short shelf-life of stone fruits contributes to the generation of a considerable amount of food waste both during the supply chain and at consumers’ homes, which has important social, economical and environmental implications.
With the aim of bypassing these obstacles, a research group from University of Barcelona have developed RIPLESS, a biostimulant solution with a natural composition based on plant antioxidants that expands the shelf-life of stone fruits. It maintains fruit firmness (determined by firmness index) and reduces pathogen incidence (percentage of infection), thus guaranteeing fruit safety. The form of administration is easy and effective, by pulverizing it on the surface of the fruit without the need of additional equipment.
Up until this moment, RIPLESS has been tested at a lab scale on plums and cherries, showing a positive effect on increasing up to 5 days the postharvest shelf-life.
Benefits:
- Natural spray, easy to apply (no specific equipment or machinery needed)
- It can be used in any point of the food-value chain.
- Natural composition without additional flavors.
- Prevents from fruit overripening and pathogen infection.
- Increases stone fruits shelf-life up to 5 days from its application, doubling its regular lifespan.
The represented institution is looking for a collaboration that leads to commercial exploitation of the presented invention.
Institution: Universitat de Barcelona
TRL: 4-5
Protection status: Patent Application
Contact: Carlos G. Gredilla / c.gredilla@viromii.com
