Background: Leafy vegetables such as Iceberg lettuce are packed into cardboard cartons in the field at the harvest site. This reduces mechanical damage during handling and subsequent transportation to market and also allows quality attributes – such as field efficiency or postharvest quality – to be identified early in the supply chain. Consumer demand for minimally processed fresh produce heightens the risk of produce contamination by pathogens which can heighten the decay process and in some cases make consumers seriously ill.

Challenge Buckminsterfullerenes (C60) are known to be powerful photocatalysts but their low solubility in water presents a significant challenge in environmental and biomedical applications involving aqueous media. Solution Functionalizing C60 with hydrophilic moieties was found to produce a new class of materials with exceptional activity as photocatalytic disinfectants capable of inactivating pathogenic microorganisms and enhancing the oxidation of organic pollutants.

Background: Climate changes have made agriculture a difficult proposition for small farmers in rain-fed and marginal lands while available arable land is decreasing every year. Agricultural crops and vegetables that can thrive in conditions of drought high salinity high-temperature or heavy metal contamination will go a long way in addressing the world’s food needs. Technology Description: Dr.

North Carolina State University is seeking an industry partner to commercialize a novel method for the ionic liquid based pretreatment of lignocellulosic materials for biofuel production. US Patent No. 8182557 has issued on this technology.Ethanol is gaining in popularity as an alternative fuel and is currently primarily made from the starch in kernels of field corn. However the use of corn as a starting material is a severe limitation since corn is a valuable food source.

Mycotoxins metabolites produced by specific fungi are introduced into the food chain by pre-harvest and post-harvest contamination of foods and livestock feed. Infestation of crops and food by mycotoxin producing fungi causes serious immunosuppressive carcinogenic cytotoxic and teratogenic effects in humans and animals. The Aspergillus mycotoxin aflatoxin is the most potent naturally occurring carcinogen and one of the most economically important mycotoxins worldwide.

Background: Lehigh University has developed a forward osmosis separation processes using magnesium oxide and carbon dioxide. The invention can purify water through a Forward Osmosis process from both surface water and saline water. The invention can concentrate waste from a dilute waste stream. Technology Description: In various applications it may be desirable to concentrate species of interest which are present in solution.

Technology University of Louisville researchers have developed a novel process for isolating C5 sugars from biomass hydrolyzate that yields xylose and minor quantities of arabinose as solids both of which are widely used in food medicinal and industrial applications. This process part of C5-based biorefinery initiative is a low-cost non-thermal process that eliminates the need for traditional high-energy consuming steps such as evaporation concentration or ion exchange.

Background: The question of how to feed the worlds growing population is becoming increasingly important and features highly on the agenda of many countries. By 2050 the population of the world is set to rise to 9 billion people and current food production rates will need to double in order to fulfill the increased demand. One way to deal with this issue is through finding and developing novel approaches to manage pests invasive plant species and disease. It is estimated that between 10-16% of the global harvest is lost due to plant diseases costing an estimated US$220 billion each year.

Zo-opt develop innovative live fish food products. Of-the-shelf products enable growing new fish species in aquaculture. The food contains natural ingredients only and prevents water contamination and waste by current technologies.

High-barrier packaging is of interest to those packaging products in the food pharmaceutical medical chemical and cosmetics industries. It is required to protect packaged products from the infiltration of unwanted gases water vapor and flavors. High-barrier films are usually achieved by co-extrusion lamination coating and layering of polymer films. However problems such as de-lamination and migration can limit the effectiveness and/or robustness of these barrier films eventually compromising the barrier characteristics of the packaging.