我最尊敬的导师实验室课题组研制的新型生物保鲜技术可以使“英国每天少扔160万只香蕉”。不仅在天津网、天津市每日新报上引起很大反响，而且得到英国每日邮报（Daily Mail）等媒体关注报道，并于2011年底受邀意大利水凝胶国际会议，2012年8月中旬受邀赴美参加第244届美国化学会议。

下面是英国每日邮报（Daily Mail）于2012年8月22日的新闻报道：

• Spray stops bananas breathing through their skin and kills the bacteria that make them rot
• It is derived from shrimp and crab shells
• Growers, supermarkets, even consumers could one day buy the experimental spray

A spray that stops bananas from rapidly turning to mush is being developed by scientists.

When used to coat green bananas, it slowed their ripening and so kept them fresh for almost a fortnight.

By contrast, supermarket-bought bananas often go brown and soggy within two or three days.

It is believed that the spray could help save some of the 1.6million bananas thrown away in Britain every day.

Dr Xihong Li, who made the spray from chitosan, a substance derived from shrimp and crab shells, said: ‘We found that by spraying green bananas with a chitosan aerogel, we can keep bananas fresh for up to 12 days.

‘Once bananas begin to mature, they quickly become yellow and soft, and then they rot.

‘We have developed ways to keep bananas green for a longer time and inhibit the rapid ripening that occurs.

‘Such a coating could be used at home by consumers, in supermarkets or during shipment of bananas.’

The spray, which is being developed at Tianjin University of Science and Technology in China, is clear and tasteless and said to be completely safe.

It works by killing bacteria and slowing down the rate at which the fruit breathes.

Bananas breathe by taking in oxygen and giving off carbon dioxide but do it through their skin.

The faster they breathe, the quicker they ripen, until they start to become soggy.

Bacteria on the skin then thrive and the banana rots.

But an American Chemical Society conference heard the recipe has to be refined to make it suitable for commercial use.

Bananas are usually transported while still green and ripened in warm humid conditions similar to those they have experienced naturally.

The gas ethylene is used to start the ripening process.

Bananas also produce ethylene as they ripen, which is why they rot faster when kept in a bag, as the gas builds up.

相关引用链接：http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2192125/Scientists-discover-stop-bananas-rotting--covering-seafood.html