• picture
  • picture
  • picture
  • picture
Public Radio's Environmental News Magazine (follow us on Google News)

Technology Update

Air Date: Week of



Transcript

GRABER: Scientists at the U.S. Department of Agriculture have developed a new "plastic" wrap made entirely out of fruits and vegetables. The simple recipe: Take the fruit or vegetable of your choice, puree, add water, spread it paper thin, and let it dry. Fruits and vegetables contain long chain molecules called polysaccharides, which bond to create a thin film when the puree and water mixture dries. The sugars in the produce help make the wrap flexible. In low humidity, the fruit or veggie wrap keeps out as much oxygen as plastic wrap does, protecting food from spoiling. This technique could provide a new use for produce now too small to be canned or sold fresh. And the film retains the color and the flavor of the original material. So as Marie Antoinette might say: Let them eat cake, and the wrapper, too. That's this week's technology update. I'm Cynthia Graber.

(Music up and under)

CURWOOD: And you're listening to Living on Earth. You can hear our program any time on our Web site. The address is www.loe.org. That's www.loe.org. And while you're online, send your comments to us at letters@loe.org. Once again, letters@loe.org. Our postal address is 8 Story Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138. And you can reach our listener line at 800-218-9988. That's 800-218-9988. CDs, tapes, and transcripts are $15.

(Music up and under)

 

 

Living on Earth wants to hear from you!

Living on Earth
62 Calef Highway, Suite 212
Lee, NH 03861
Telephone: 617-287-4121
E-mail: comments@loe.org

Newsletter [Click here]

Donate to Living on Earth!
Living on Earth is an independent media program and relies entirely on contributions from listeners and institutions supporting public service. Please donate now to preserve an independent environmental voice.

Newsletter
Living on Earth offers a weekly delivery of the show's rundown to your mailbox. Sign up for our newsletter today!

Sailors For The Sea: Be the change you want to sea.

The Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment: Committed to protecting and improving the health of the global environment.

Contribute to Living on Earth and receive, as our gift to you, an archival print of one of Mark Seth Lender's extraordinary wildlife photographs. Follow the link to see Mark's current collection of photographs.

Buy a signed copy of Mark Seth Lender's book Smeagull the Seagull & support Living on Earth