Post-harvest losses (phls) of agricultural produce during storage, distribution, and retail is a cause of significant economic and environmental burden

Microbial causes of phls, which includes fungal spoilage, is an open challenge that is largely lacking safe and effective solutions. A conservative estimate puts the economic burden from microbial spoilage at more than $10B/year worldwide. Compared to the synthetic antimicrobial agents which can have harmful and irreversible side effects, various essential oils (EO) of plant origin are generally a safe and natural alternative for suppressing microbial spoilage. Their antimicrobial activity has been well established throughout scientific literature. Their potential for extending shelf life of produce has also been published by independent researchers and demonstrated by our internal testing. Motivated by the scale of phls and the importance of this problem, our aim is to develop and commercialize safe, effective technologies and products to reduce the phls of fresh produce based on natural EO compounds of plant origin. Our focus for this phase i effort is on the development of EO-based formulations and the characterization of their intrinsic dose response curves in their vapor phase. The proposed research project will focus on the following objectives: 1) to define, develop and validate the experimental set up and techniques to control and measure the EOC concentrations, 2) to perform in-vitro and in-vivo testing on fruits, and 3) to analyze and document the results. The results of this research will be used as primary inputs for the follow-on product development activities for phase II.