一種能代替冰箱冷藏水果的科技出現(xiàn)了！

Edible Spider Silk Coating Keeps Fruit Fresh Without Refrigeration

絲素涂層能夠延長蔬果的保鮮期

A new technological development may mean a significantly longer life for fruits and vegetables. Biomedical engineers at Tufts University have shown that coating fruit in an odorless, edible, water-based silk solution can keep fruit fresh for more than a week without refrigeration.

最近，一項新技術(shù)的發(fā)展可能意味著水果和蔬菜的壽命將大大延長。塔夫茨大學(xué)的生物醫(yī)學(xué)工程師們已經(jīng)證明，將無味且可食用的絲素水溶液涂覆在蔬果表面可以使蔬果保鮮一周以上，而且不需要冷藏。

But this isn't just about extending the life of that banana on your shelf you keep telling yourself you should eat any day now. As food travels along the supply chain from farm to consumer, according to the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization, the world loses half of the fruit and vegetable crops grown for human consumption.

但是這不并是說你可以將香蕉等水果一直放在架子上，然后告訴自己你隨便什么時候吃都行。畢竟，這只是延長一點保鮮的時間，并不是無限制地延長。聯(lián)合國糧食及農(nóng)業(yè)組織的數(shù)據(jù)顯示，在食物沿著供應(yīng)鏈從農(nóng)場到消費者的過程中，整個世界損失了大概一半用于人類消費的水果和蔬菜作物。

"Food waste has an impact on food quality and safety," the authors write, "representing a loss of economic value and resources, and, a hindrance to economic development."The researchers published their findings today in the journal Scientific Reports, outlining how the silk fibroin, a protein essential to silk and spiderwebs and similar to collagen, can be suspended in water to create a 1 percent protein solution. Dissolvable film made from silk fibroin has previously been used to create implantable brain electrodes and as adhesive, edible sensors to monitor fruit ripening and cheese aging.

該研究的作者寫道：“食物的浪費對食品的質(zhì)量和安全都有著影響，也說明經(jīng)濟價值和資源在損失。同時，食物的浪費也是經(jīng)濟發(fā)展的一個重大阻礙”。研究人員們在最新一期的《科學(xué)報告》雜志上發(fā)表了他們的研究成果，概述了絲素如何懸浮在水中從而產(chǎn)生1%濃度的蛋白質(zhì)溶液。在此之前，用絲素制成的可溶解膜曾被用來制造可植入的腦電極、粘合劑以及用于監(jiān)測果實成熟和奶酪老化的可食用傳感器。

The scientists tested with strawberries — one of the hardest fruits to keep fresh — and bananas in their study, dipping the perishable fruits into the solution to provide a nearly invisible, coating 27 to 35 microns thick — that's just one one-thousandth of an inch. This coating reduced the fruit's cell respiration rate by regulating the natural flow of oxygen and carbon dioxide, and slowed the rate at which water in the fruit evaporated — essentially, slowing down the decomposition process

研究人員在他們的研究中使用了草莓(最難保持新鮮的水果之一)和香蕉這兩種水果。他們在易腐敗的水果表面用絲素水溶液創(chuàng)造了一個近乎看不見的(厚度大約只有27到35微米)薄膜。這一層薄膜通過調(diào)節(jié)氧氣和二氧化碳的自然流動來降低水果的細胞呼吸速率，并減緩了水分蒸發(fā)的速度。從根本上說，就是減緩了分解過程。

Current coating methods of fruit preservation include applying layers of polysaccharides, proteins, resins, lipids and combinations of different materials, all with different properties. The scientists say that, in addition to reducing food waste, this development using silk fibroin would mitigate some of the drawbacks of other forms of coating, providing a substance that's biodegradable, anti-allergenic, antibacterial and antifungal.

目前使水果保鮮的涂層材料包括多糖、蛋白質(zhì)、樹脂、脂類和不同材料的組合，不同的材料具有不同的性質(zhì)。研究人員表示，除了減少食物浪費，這種絲素纖維素也沒有其他涂層的那些缺點，將為我們提供一種可生物降解、抗過敏、抗菌的物質(zhì)。

The coating process resulted in no discernible change in the fruit's texture, although the study notes that the scientists didn't test for any change in taste.

盡管這項研究指出，研究人員并沒有測試水果的味道是否有任何變化，但我們可以肯定，涂覆薄膜的過程并不會使果實的質(zhì)地發(fā)生明顯的變化。