Edible Antiviral Barrier Promises Food Safety Against Coronavirus

Yıldız Teknopark's Yıldız Kuluçka Merkezi entrepreneur Hyggefoods has developed BioCoBloc, an antiviral edible coating liquid, under the guidance of Yıldız Teknik Üniversitesi Faculty of Chemistry and Metallurgy Dean Food Prof. Dr. Osman Sağdıç. Turkey produces an annual average of 54 million tonnes of fresh fruit and vegetables. Of this, 4 million tonnes are exported, generating approximately USD 2.26 billion in revenue. Particularly in light of the coronavirus pandemic, better understanding of the strategic importance of the fresh fruit and vegetable sector for healthy nutrition is giving exporters hope for the future. However, at this point, ensuring food safety in the fight against Covid-19 is extremely important. Different measures and efforts such as contactless export are being undertaken in this direction. The antiviral edible coating liquid that food technology company Hyggefoods, located within Yıldız Kuluçka Merkezi, is working on addresses an important gap in food safety. This is because fruits and vegetables coated with this liquid aim to prevent the virus from reaching consumers directly. With this project, specially labelled fruit and vegetable products proven to be coronavirus-free can be created. In this way, domestically grown fruit and vegetables are expected to be exported with high added value. Consumers will be able to access this product via the internet. Emine Yılmaz, founder of Hyggefoods, stated: "With the development project of antiviral edible food coating material to combat Covid-19, we aim to prevent uncontrolled spread of the disease in society and develop effective protective products in disease prevention. Consumers enable virus transmission through direct contact with fruits and vegetables. With the antiviral edible coating material developed in this project, vegetables and fruits coated with it will be protected against viruses. It has no health risks. Consumers will see small labels on fruits and vegetables coated with BioCoBloc. It will be a consumer-friendly product, especially for fruits that are eaten without peeling and have a short shelf life, such as strawberries, cherries and grapes."