While high tomato prices hog the headlines, the lack of efficient logistics and cold storage facilities for horticulture crops goes unnoticed. To address the latter, Chennai- based Greenpod Labs has come up with an innovative sachet that can extend the shelf life of fruits and vegetables by up to 60%.
This is how it works: The porous sachets are placed on top of the package, where it releases plant-based volatile compounds activating defence mechanisms in the fruits and vegetables, similar to that of the human immune system.
This will expand the shelf life of perishables by 40-60% while kept at room temperature. Basically, it slows down the ripen- ing rate and minimises microbial growth—two major reasons why food goes to waste.
This is touted as a cost-effective technological alternative without de- pending on energy-based, capital in- tensive cold storage units.
The three-year-old startup has patented this ‘active packaging’ technology. The sachet should be customised for each fruit.
As of now, the company has developed products for 12 crops, which include strawberries, figs, tomatoes, avocados, coriander and capsicum.
The firm now offers customised sachets for mangoes and grapes and it plans to introduce similar sachets for green chilli, broccoli, and orange soon.
The price of the sachet for one kilogramme of grape is `1.50 and `3 for mango. According to Greenpod Labs, using their sachets is many times cheaper than going for expensive cold storage facilities. Deepak Rajmohan, founder and CEO of Greenpod Labs, says the product could control all kinds of spoilages in a commodity, slow down the ripening rate, and control microbial growth such as mould, which is not possible in cold storage.
“We look at the commodities, look at the biochemistry responsible for the changes, study economic losses of the commodities and build products based on that,” says Deepak, who was previously working as a food scientist in the United States. The startup wants to expand its services to grain, meat and milk and aims to go global. Their main goal is to make sure this cost-effective invention reaches other developing countries in order to save perishables.