Multifunctional Material Cer@MHKUST-1 with Efficient Preservation Capability

Global food wastage is increasing 1.6 billion tons per year with values about $400 billion, aggravating the food crisis of the 0.8 billion chronic hungry and poor people in the world. In particular, the eutrophic fruits and vegetables contribute a large proportion of food losses due to their susceptible deterioration suffered by dehydration, microbial activation, and senescence. Therefore, developing a multifunctional preservation material to resist these alterations is vital but challengeable. In this study, the nature biocompatible water-locking factor, ceramide was encapsulated into the pre-synthesis of mesoporous HKUST-1 to provide a composite preservative material (Cer@MHKUST-1) with multi-functions of ethylene adsorption, water-locking prolongation and bacteriostatic. Results indicated that: 1) Cer@MHKUST-1 has a higher ethylene adsorption performance of 68.75 cm(3)/g STP, 2) hydrogen bonds were formed between ceramide and water to prevent water penetrating into ceramide bilayer, 3) Cer@MHKUST-1 showed a better antibacterial performance toward E. coli and S. aureus, with the lethality of 100% and 99.96%, respectively. As a validation experiment, the non-climacteric fruit (e.g., strawberry) and climacteric fruit (e.g., tomato) have confirmed the effectiveness of Cer@MHKUST-1 in preserving fruit freshness. Accordingly, Cer@MHKUST-1 is a promising material to improve the shelf life of perishable products and avoid food wastage.