SBIR Phase I: Modular ozonation technology for improved quality and reduced spoilage from farm to retail

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project is to conserve food supply and reduce waste from farm to consumer. According to a Natural Resources Defense Council report, 40% of US food goes uneaten, roughly $165 billion in wasted food/year, much of it due to produce spoilage. Reducing food losses by just 15 percent could feed over 25 million Americans per year when 1/6th lack a secure food supply and many, especially children, lack affordable sources of healthy foods like fresh fruits and vegetables. Through diminished spoilage losses and extended shelf life, the proposed ozonation evice could improve quality, nutritional value, and accessibility of healthy foods and thereby help reduce obesity. Minimizing losses while maintaining safety and quality may promote agricultural production through elimination of spoilage organisms and premature ripening, yielding higher profits. Potential markets include produce supply chain harvest, transport, storage, and distribution businesses that use shipping and storage containers. The technical objectives in this Phase I research project are fabrication and development of a prototype APM (Active Packaging Module) to reduce fresh fruit and vegetable spoilage losses during storage and transit using patented and patent pending ozonation technologies. Activities will include: 1) Design and construction of small (~ 1 inch cube) modular self-contained battery powered units designed to go inside shipping containers containing perishable produce; 2) Determination of electrical and operational (exposure time, temperature, humidity, placement in container) parameters required to initiate and maintain different levels of spoilage control within industry standard containers of different sizes; 3) Correlation of these parameters with effective log reductions in viable counts of known inoculated or natural spoilage and pathogenic microorganism when utilizing the APM as compared to baseline; 4) Repetition of activities iteratively (design considerations, lifetime and efficacy testing) to optimize the desired outcomes.