Shelf life enhancer adds shelf life of greens without freezing | Fusion - WeRIndia

Each year several tonnes of fruits and vegetables are wasted which results in loss of crores of rupees.

One of the main reasons for the wastage is the lack of proper and sufficient cold storage facilities.

Many farmers do not have access to cold storage facilities. As a result, they are incurring financial losses.

To help farmers by providing a cheaper alternative to storage facilities, Dr Jagadis Gupta Kapungati designed a device, the shelf life enhancer.

Dr Jagadis is a scientist at the National Institute of Plant Genome Research (NIPGR), Delhi.

Shelf life enhancer is a cost-effective alternative that helps farmers reduce losses during transportation and storage. The device slows down the ripening process of fruits and vegetables and thus enhances their shelf life.

Ethylene helps ripen fruits and vegetables. When they are exposed to small amounts of nitric oxide, it reduces the production of ethylene by slowing down their respiration rate.

Based on the concept, Dr Jagadis continued his research to develop a device to release nitric oxide in small amounts.

He also developed a formula to generate nitric oxide naturally from various leaves like banana, mango, lettuce etc.

He made the device using plastic, wood and polyacrylic material. With the financial support of the Biotechnology Industrial Research Assistance Council, he designed the prototype.

The device has two chambers, one is smaller, and another is larger. Fruits and vegetables are kept in the larger chamber and receive nitric oxide in small quantities from the smaller chamber.

Dr Jagadis tested the device by placing various fruits and vegetables in it. The device improved the shelf life for banana and mango for seven days, and pineapple for 10 days.

Currently, the device is powered by electricity. He also developed another variant with solar panels for rural areas. The device is priced at ₹2,000. Dr Jagadis launched a startup, Fruvetech Pvt Ltd., to sell these devices.

Image by Jasmine Lin from Pixabay (Free for commercial use)

Image Reference: https://pixabay.com/photos/fruit-vegetable-apple-1095331/