UBC scientists develop a mixture that keep strawberries fresh

Pic credit: Clare Kiernan Everyone loves strawberries. Almost every city has its own version of eating this sweet, bright red fruit. In London, for instance, people often like to eat strawberries dipped in chocolate. In other places, they’re folded into fresh cream, blended into smoothies, or simply eaten as they are on a warm afternoon.But strawberries have a problem most of us are familiar with: they rot. It is one of the oldest problems in agriculture, and also one of the most expensive. In Canada, nearly half of all food produced is lost or wasted, costing the economy an estimated $58 billion annually, and fresh fruits sit at the centre of that crisis. Researchers at the University of British Columbia have now found something that can cut strawberry wastage. This simple method can keep strawberries fresher than they would be under refrigeration. The findings are published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.They coated strawberries with a seaweed derivativePic credit: Clare KiernanResearchers at UBC designed an agar-based coating that can help reduce food spoilage and waste, and is even more effective than refrigeration. They dipped strawberries in a seaweed-based...