| Idea Name: |
Phage8 |
| Slogan: |
Nature's solution for fighting food waste. |
| Supervisor Name: |
Dr. Fazal Adnan |
| Supervisor Designation: |
Assistant Professor |
| Supervisor School: |
ASAB |
| Supervisor Department: |
Industrial Biotechnology |
| Contact number: |
+92333 3122939 |
| Email ID: |
[email protected] |
| Abstract: |
| Supplementing Pakistan’s economy by using nature’s organic solution - bacteriophages, to control the losses caused by bacterial Soft rot. |
| What is the unmet need in society that your idea will fulfill ? |
| The bacterial disease, soft rot caused by Erwinia has no effective treatment. The only solution is prevention, or once infected, the produce must be discarded. We aim to reduce post-harvest crop loss by providing a sustainable, organic, non-toxic solution. Reducing storage losses and food wastage. |
| Who needs it ? How many would benefit ? |
| 62% of Pakistan’s income depends on agriculture. Commercial crops like potatoes, tomatoes, onions, apples, etc. are affected by soft rot disease causing widespread post-harvest losses. We aim to ameliorate the farmer's plight, targeting the storage sector and further the entire supply chain. |
| How will the solution works |
| Bacteriophages are natural predators of bacteria. Our solution works by isolating Erwinia-specific phages from nature, purifying, and increasing their number by culturing them in bacterial systems. Then incorporate them into a ready-to-use solution that can be directly applied to fresh produce before or during storage. |
| Who are your competitors ? How is your solution different |
| Currently, certain toxic antimicrobial preservatives are used for fruits and vegetables, leading to environmental contamination, increase in antimicrobial resistance, and the consumption of which has been linked to severe ill-health effects. Our solution is a non-toxic, eco-friendly alternative. |
| Status: |
new |
| Entry Date & Time: |
2021-12-15 (1739) |
