Significant postharvest losses of fresh produce are reported every year due to physiological degradation and fungal attacks because of their high nutrient content

The Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture awarded Virginia State University $649,362 on January 15, 2026, under the 1890 Institution Capacity Building Grants program (CFDA 10.216) to develop an ecofriendly active packaging system extending fresh strawberry shelf life.

VSU will develop an active package insert with extended-release technology to deploy plant volatiles (essential oils) in strawberry packages as a fungicide alternative, addressing postharvest losses from physiological degradation and fungal attack. The project encompasses identifying gene expression levels influencing fruit firmness, determining consumer detection thresholds for color, texture, and flavor changes induced by essential oils, and building machine learning models to predict consumer acceptance. VSU will integrate student training and disseminate results through its postharvest research program.

The award runs through January 14, 2029, with performance at Petersburg, Virginia. The project advances all three program goals: enhancing student mentoring, strengthening linkages among 1890 institutions through collaborative research, and incorporating recent scientific and technological advances. The work supports the HBCU Executive Order by improving workforce preparedness.

Generally, cold storage and fungicides are used to control postharvest disorders and diseases. However, due to growing public concern surrounding residual chemicals in fresh produce fungicide alternatives must be developed. We propose this collaborative research project to build research teaching and extension capacity in the postharvest research program at VSU. The program aims to 1) extend the shelf life of fresh produce through innovative and alternative postharvest practices 2) train students and 3) disseminate the results. Plants produce volatiles as a natural self-defense system. We propose to develop an active package with extend-release technology to release plant volatiles (essential oils) in strawberry packages thereby improving the shelf life of strawberries and feeding america with healthy fresh produce. The project addresses all three nifa-CBG program goals: enhance mentoring students to strengthen linkages among the 1890 institutions through a collaborative project and enhance and strengthen the quality of all programs by incorporating recent advances in science and technology. The project objectives are to: 1) develop an ecofriendly active package insert for the extended release of essential oils 2) identify expression levels of genes influencing fruit firmness 3) identify thresholds for consumer detection and rejection of color texture or flavor changes caused by essential oils 4) develop machine learning models to predict consumer liking 5) develop human capital, alternative postharvest practices and disseminate of the results. This project supports hbcu executive order by improving workforce preparedness.