Taiwanese researchers have developed a method using nanotechnology to extend the shelf life of bananas for 23 days.
The team was led by National Chung Hsing University professor Lin Yao-tung (林耀東).
Exhibiting the team’s techniques at a Ministry of Science and Technology pavilion at Computex Taipei on Wednesday last week, Lin said the technique is commercially feasible and more than 80 businesses, including household electric appliance suppliers, have approached the team seeking collaboration.
Photo: CNA
While plunging banana prices have grabbed media attention over the past few months, it is not a new problem, Lin said, adding that he has spent nine years researching techniques to extend the shelf life of various fruits.
Lin said he missed Taiwan’s various kind of high-quality bananas when studying in the US, adding that banana exports are unfortunately much weaker than local consumption.
Chilean agricultural products are exported an average distance of 11,157km and those of New Zealand an average of 10,765km, while Taiwanese agricultural products are exported an average of 1,793km, highlighting the nation’s need to develop more advanced techniques for keeping fruit fresh, he said.
Working with researchers in plant pathology, animal science and other domains, the team used mineral materials and agricultural waste to develop a coating for cardboard cases that slows down the ripening process by insulating the bananas during transportation, he said.
The results showed that the coating extended the shelf life of bananas, he said, adding that the technique could also be used in warehouse management systems.
The team also plans to collaborate with information engineers in developing an automated system for monitoring crops as they ripen, Lin said, adding that the system might soon be turned into a mobile app for farmers.
Asked about the cost of the technique, Lin said that academics spend less time thinking about business affairs.
The team might seek cooperations with companies that have expressed an interest in their technology, he added.
Lin teaches in the university’s Department of Soil and Environmental Sciences, where two graduate students, Tu Kai-fen (涂凱芬) and Yan Li-ting (嚴莉婷), have started an agricultural technology company named Agritech (艾格泰).
The CIA has a message for Chinese government officials worried about their place in Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) government: Come work with us. The agency released two Mandarin-language videos on social media on Thursday inviting disgruntled officials to contact the CIA. The recruitment videos posted on YouTube and X racked up more than 5 million views combined in their first day. The outreach comes as CIA Director John Ratcliffe has vowed to boost the agency’s use of intelligence from human sources and its focus on China, which has recently targeted US officials with its own espionage operations. The videos are “aimed at
STEADFAST FRIEND: The bills encourage increased Taiwan-US engagement and address China’s distortion of UN Resolution 2758 to isolate Taiwan internationally The Presidential Office yesterday thanked the US House of Representatives for unanimously passing two Taiwan-related bills highlighting its solid support for Taiwan’s democracy and global participation, and for deepening bilateral relations. One of the bills, the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, requires the US Department of State to periodically review its guidelines for engagement with Taiwan, and report to the US Congress on the guidelines and plans to lift self-imposed limitations on US-Taiwan engagement. The other bill is the Taiwan International Solidarity Act, which clarifies that UN Resolution 2758 does not address the issue of the representation of Taiwan or its people in
DEFENDING DEMOCRACY: Taiwan shares the same values as those that fought in WWII, and nations must unite to halt the expansion of a new authoritarian bloc, Lai said The government yesterday held a commemoration ceremony for Victory in Europe (V-E) Day, joining the rest of the world for the first time to mark the anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe. Taiwan honoring V-E Day signifies “our growing connections with the international community,” President William Lai (賴清德) said at a reception in Taipei on the 80th anniversary of V-E Day. One of the major lessons of World War II is that “authoritarianism and aggression lead only to slaughter, tragedy and greater inequality,” Lai said. Even more importantly, the war also taught people that “those who cherish peace cannot
US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo on Friday expressed concern over the rate at which China is diversifying its military exercises, the Financial Times (FT) reported on Saturday. “The rates of change on the depth and breadth of their exercises is the one non-linear effect that I’ve seen in the last year that wakes me up at night or keeps me up at night,” Paparo was quoted by FT as saying while attending the annual Sedona Forum at the McCain Institute in Arizona. Paparo also expressed concern over the speed with which China was expanding its military. While the US
RSS