Kasey Dresser | August 22, 2018
A research team at the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore have found a plant- based preservative that could replace artificial preservatives.
Flavonoid is a group of phytonutrients found in fruits and vegetables that has recently been used as a natural preservative in food. The naturally occurring chemical is responsible for defending the plant against pathogens, pests, or other environmental stressors. It is also the reason onions, tea, strawberries, kale, grapes and other foods have such vivid colors.
During testing in a room temperature environment, food with flavonoids were able to stay fresh for 2 days without refrigeration while current artificial preservatives succumb to bacteria after 6 hours.
This research could not be announced at a better time as just last month the American Academy of Pediatrics had 67,000 pediatricians in the U.S. step forward about their concerns of nitrates and nitrites being used to preserve meat products. Research has show that nitrates and nitrites can interfere with thyroid hormone production, the metabolic process and cause gastrointestinal and nervous system cancers. Flavonoids are packed with vitamins and do not cause harm to the digestive system.
A former adviser to the World Health Organization and consultant Medical Oncologist, Dr. Gabriel Oon Chong Jin said in an interview, “Flavonoids are important natural food supplements with vitamins, but also used as food additives, without causing harm to the human system. This is unlike currently available artificial preservatives used in most processed foods such as aspartame and nitrates, which may cause cancer among other adverse health effects.”
The research team is being led by Professor William Chen, the Director of NTU’s Food Science & Technology program. The recent findings were published in last month’s Food Chemistry journal.