Johnson & Johnson subsidiary joins initiative to reduce postharvest fruit and vegetable losses with mustard-based solution

Canada's MustGrow Biologics Corp. and Janssen PMP have signed an Exclusive Evaluation and Option Agreement to test and develop MustGrow's mustard-based biological technologies for certain post-harvest food preservation applications worldwide.

Under the agreement, MustGrow has granted Janssen PMP the exclusive right to test MustGrow's mustard-based technologies for post-harvest preservation of fruits and vegetables worldwide, excluding cereals, potatoes, bananas and shipping container fumigation. The agreement also specifies that Janssen PMP will fund and drive all application testing and development work.

Janssen is a division of Janssen Pharmaceutica NV, a subsidiary of pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson. 

The firms in the agreement explain that fruit and vegetable crops play a key role in global food nutrition. More than one-third of produce (approximately $1 trillion) is lost or wasted in postharvest operations, which includes loss attributed to fungal and bacterial diseases. They estimate that 40-60% of vegetable crops are lost to this, because they are highly perishable and especially susceptible living tissues. 

“Poder controlar los patógenos de la poscosecha con un volátil natural eficaz como las tecnologías basadas en la mostaza de MustGrow podría suponer un importante desarrollo del mercado. El control de la putrefacción sigue siendo una necesidad en muchas frutas y verduras a nivel mundial para reducir el desperdicio y apoyar el comercio de productos frescos a nivel local e internacional”, dijo Geoffroy de Chabot-Tramecourt, Director de I+D y Desarrollo Comercial de Janssen PMP.