Protective coatings for foods, agricultural products and cells A. Nussinovitch (2000). Gums for coatings and adhesives. In: Handbook of
Hydrocolloids. Phillips, G. and Williams, P. (Eds.) CRC, Woodhead Publishing Limited, Cambridge, England, pp. 347-367.
V. Hershko and A. Nussinovitch (1998). The behavior of hydrocolloid coatings on vegetative material. Biotechnology Progress, 14, 756-765.
S. Chen and A. Nussinovitch (2000). Galactomannans in disturbances of structured wax-hydrocolloid based coatings of citrus (easy peelers). Food Hydrocolloids, 14, 561-568.
We began with edible gum-based coatings for foods, and later developed more complex coatings for frog embryos and oocytes. The difference between coating and entrapping is the thickness of the coating layer, being very thin in the former, thick in the latter. Coatings were prepared to constitute a barrier to microbial contamination, to postpone embryo hatch to more developed stages, to slow embryo development without harming its biological activity, to serve as an energy-accumulating lens (for preserving eggs and embryos in cold solutions) and to facilitate embryo survival under harsh conditions, such as exposure to hazardous materials and mechanical damage. These studies could serve in the future as a springboard for successful transplantation and preservation studies with human embryos.
A. Nussinovitch, V. Hershko and H.D. Rabinowitch. Protective coatings for food and agricultural products, methods for producing same and products coated by same. U.S. patents #6,299,915 and #6,068,867 and Israeli patent #111495. N. Kampf, C. Zohar and A. Nussinovitch (2000). Hydrocolloid coating of Xenopus laevis embryos. Biotechnology Progress, 16, 480-487.
For many years we have studied coatings of fruits, vegetables, cheeses and meat products. We observed how the deterioration of mushrooms, fresh and dry garlic and flower corms was slowed by immediately coating them with edible biodegradable films. Studying the physical properties of the food surface, such as roughness and porosity (introducing into the food area apparatuses borrowed from the car industry, such as a roughness tester, and designing the first glossmeter for curved surfaces), preparing 3D maps of those surfaces (by using software and methods from topography), and understanding the interactions between the coating solution and the food, how to compose a coating solution and change its properties, such as wettability and penetration, and the best way to dry it, have all contributed towards preparing tailor-made coatings. A coating of transparent dried film should not alter the price per unit weight of the product, and by improving its gloss properties, can improve its market value. In our recent studies we have tried to deliberately introduce disturbances into the wax coatings to improve their functionality.