Industries
Post-harvest & processing
What changes this industry: bio-solutions with evidence, technologies, suppliers and open money.
Overview of the industry
These articles cover dangerous chemicals used after harvest, directly on raw food (fruit, vegetables, potatoes, meat, fish), and the proven biological or bioeconomy alternatives to them.
Food additives, processing aids and post-harvest treatments require authorization under national food law (in Russia: EAEU technical regulations / TR CU 029/2012 on food additives). Check the current status before use.
Articles#
| ID | Problem → alternative | Replaces | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| P01 | Fruit storage rots → antagonistic yeasts, hot water, chitosan | Imazalil, thiabendazole, OPP, prochloraz, carbendazim | Partial → Replace |
| P02 | Potato sprouting → spearmint oil, orange oil, ethylene | Chlorpropham (CIPC; EU non-renewed 2019) | Replace |
| P03 | Apple scald and rots → dynamic controlled atmosphere, hot water, biocontrol | Diphenylamine, post-harvest fungicide drenches | Replace |
| P04 | Pathogens on raw food → phages, protective cultures, nisin | Chlorine washes (chlorate, THMs), part of synthetic preservatives | Partial → Replace (specific targets) |
| P05 | Fruit ripening → ethylene rooms (ethylene can come from bio-ethanol) | Calcium carbide (arsenic/phosphine impurities) | Replace |
| P06 | Postharvest decay and weight loss · edible wax + essential-oil coatings | Fungicide-wax dips (imazalil, thiabendazole, fludioxonil); petroleum waxes | Partial |
Related articles elsewhere#
- Mycotoxins in feed grain: V11.
Suppliers — real products and services (from the vendor index)#
Collection-level join (2026-09-28): active vendors matched by topic tags (
organic-acids39,yeast-fermentation-ingredients70 companies in the index — the antagonistic-culture and organic-acid chains behind post-harvest biocontrol); open each card for evidence, contacts and status.
| Company | Region · Country | What the index shows | Card |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cathay Biotech | Asia · China | organic-acid & bio-based chemical platform (listed) | card |
| Shandong Landian Biological | Asia · China | organic acids | card |
| Angel Yeast | Asia · China | yeast & fermentation products | card |
| Grupo Princz | LatAm · Argentina | food-ingredient chemistry | card |
| WANA | LatAm · Brazil | natural food ingredients | card |
| Atacama Bio Natural Products | LatAm · Chile | microalgal ingredients | card |
Reviewed but SKIPPED (no proven bio-alternative)#
| Substance / use | Hazard | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Sulfites / SO₂ (grapes, dried fruit, shrimp melanosis) | Asthma reactions in sensitive people | Alternatives (modified atmosphere, 4-hexylresorcinol for shrimp) are physical or synthetic, not bioeconomy; chitosan for grapes is partial |
| Nitrite in cured meats | Nitrosamines (processed meat is IARC Group 1) | “Natural” celery-powder nitrite is still nitrite, so it is not a real alternative; reduction strategies only |
| Morpholine in fruit waxes | Nitrosomorpholine formation; not allowed in the EU | Plant-based waxes (carnauba, candelilla) are covered in P01 |
| Formaldehyde illegally added to fish, noodles or tofu (some regions) | Carcinogen, fraud | Enforcement and cold chain; not a substitution case |
What it replaces 6
Screened candidates 1
| P07 | nisin in processed cheese and canned foods instead of nitrite and higher heat drop — Only market-research, company or pilot figures verified — no article without evidence. | D1 |
Technologies 17
| Bio-deactivation of anti-nutritional factors Enzymes and controlled fermentation are neutralizing the phytate, trypsin inhibitors and oligosaccharides that limit nutrient uptake from plant-based feed — an … | Food & alt-protein |
| Brewing & distillation as a fermentation platform Brewing and distillation capacity (250–500 m³ tanks) is being repurposed as a fermentation CDMO platform for recombinant proteins — from beer and spirits to … | Food & alt-protein |
| Coffee-ground and agri-byproduct upcycling Turning spent coffee grounds and agro-industrial side streams into cosmetic ingredients, materials and products — a biorefinery discipline where the proof is a … | Bioremediation |
| Coffee-industry biotech Beanless coffee made by fermenting non-tropical ingredients has already reached cafes on two continents, while true cell-cultured coffee grown in bioreactors — … | Food & alt-protein |
| Deep grain processing (maltodextrin, starches, amino acids) Wet milling and enzymatic hydrolysis convert corn and wheat into maltodextrin, glucose syrups, modified starches and fermentation-derived feed amino acids … | Food & alt-protein |
| Edible films & coatings Bio-based, edible films and invisible coatings derived from lipids, proteins, and polysaccharides that extend the shelf life of fresh produce and reduce … | Fill-finish & packaging |
| Food fermentation monitoring sensors Inline density/alcohol analyzers, FT-NIR compositional instruments and process sensors purpose-built for brewing, winemaking, dairy and food-beverage … | Sensors |
| Food microorganisms (starter cultures) Live bacteria, yeast and mold cultures that kickstart dairy, bakery and brewing fermentation are a mature, still-growing global industry — Novonesis reported 7% … | Food & alt-protein |
| Freeze-dried bio-functional foods Whole-food or extract-based products preserved by freeze-drying (lyophilization) specifically to retain a functional bioactive payload rather than just shelf … | Food & alt-protein |
| FSMA and HACCP certification for bio-food Third-party audit, certification and testing that lets a food business prove its safety system works — FSMA Section 204 traceability with key data elements and … | Regulatory & legal |
| Liquid biopreparations for silage Liquid lactic-acid-bacteria inoculants applied at ensiling to preserve forage — homofermentative Lactobacillus plantarum for a fast pH drop and … | Agri-inputs & biocontrol |
| Non-alcoholic adult beverages (dealcoholized & botanical) Dealcoholized brewing and distilled botanical spirit-alternatives that reproduce the adult-beverage occasion without ethanol — Athletic Brewing (the largest US … | Food & alt-protein |
| Oil and fat industry biotech Enzymatic interesterification, degumming and fat-splitting are replacing chemical processing steps across the conventional edible-oil industry — Novonesis's … | Food & alt-protein |
| Sugar-industry biotech Biological inputs are reshaping the conventional cane and beet sugar industry at both ends of the field — a sugarcane biostimulant lifting yields over 15% in … | Food & alt-protein |
| Tea-industry biotech Genomics and starter-culture fermentation are entering the world's oldest beverage crop — a Chinese gene chip mapping 3,274 tea-plant markers, a patented yeast … | Food & alt-protein |
| Upcycled food ingredients Functional proteins, fibres and lipids recovered from food-industry side streams — okara, spent grain, brewer's yeast, coffee grounds — and returned to the … | Bioremediation |
| Wine & terroir microbiome The microbial layer of winemaking — selected Saccharomyces wine yeasts, malolactic bacteria, microbial biocontrol tools and vineyard terroir-microbiome science … | Food & alt-protein |
Opportunities 2
| Tender | Lithuania – Laboratory reagents – 9580508 Reagentai molekuliniams tyrimams su įrangos įsigijimu panaudos būdu … Lietuvos sveikatos mokslų universiteto ligoninė Kauno klinikos (PV) | Oct 12, 2026 5 days |
| Grant | Textile circularity through advanced processing and manufacturing technologies and system approaches (IA) … European Commission | Feb 2, 2027 118 days |