Food waste is a major environmental issue, with approximately 1.3 billion tonnes of food lost or wasted globally each year. This STEM project examined whether natural edible coatings could slow fruit spoilage at the consumer stage. Three coatings were tested: chitosan (CH), chitosan combined with tea polyphenols (CT), and aloe vera gel (A). Strawberries, cherry tomatoes, and apples were treated and stored under room temperature (23°C) and refrigerated (4°C) conditions for seven days. Five indicators were recorded daily: mass loss, color change, mold growth, firmness, and odour. CT showed the most promising performance in this preliminary trial. At room temperature, on average, CT reduced strawberry weight loss from 10.6% in the control group to 7.60% – a reduction of about 3%, or roughly 28% relative to the control. Under refrigeration, CT produced the lowest strawberry weight loss at 1.42%, compared with 4.10% in the control group. CT also maintained mold and color scores of 0 for cherry tomatoes through Day 7 without cold storage. These findings suggest that chitosan combined with tea polyphenols may serve as a low-cost, biodegradable coating option for reducing fruit spoilage. Future work should use objective measurement tools to increase accuracy and credibility of the results.

Keywords

Sustainability, Environmental Waste Management, Food Waste Prevention, Business Model, Environmental Sustainability