An (Edible) Solution to Extend Produce’s Shelf Life — Apeel in NYTimes

New York Times
By Stephanie Strom
December 13, 2016

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — What if a Flori­da toma­to could be left on the vine long enough to turn red and ful­ly devel­op its fla­vor — and still be ripe and juicy when it arrived at a gro­cery store in New York days later?

That is pre­cise­ly the promise of a start-up here in South­ern Cal­i­for­nia, Apeel Sci­ences, that aims to make obso­lete the gas, wax and oth­er tricks grow­ers use to keep fruits and veg­eta­bles fresh over time.

Using leaves, stems, banana peels and oth­er fresh plant mate­ri­als left behind after fruits and veg­eta­bles are picked or processed, Apeel has devel­oped a method for cre­at­ing imper­cep­ti­ble, edi­ble bar­ri­ers that the com­pa­ny says can extend the life of pro­duce like green beans and berries by as much as five times. Apeel can even deliv­er a day-of-the-week bunch of bananas, each ripen­ing on a dif­fer­ent day.

To read the full arti­cle, vis­it The New York Times.