Newton Fund - Electrolysed Water for Post-Harvest Washing (JadooJal)

The JadooJal project addresses the critical challenges of India food security: the reduction of post-harvest food loses by microbial and fungal spoilage, currently at 40% of total volumes harvested. The use of Electrolysed Water (EW) made in situ from common salt and water will control the microbial load during storage transport and processing of critical Indian crops, including grains, onions, mango, banana, guava, papaya and tomato. OZO's EW solutions have robust, broad-spectrum antimicrobial efficacy and JadooJal will evaluate the potential of EW to significantly reduce the use of water, energy and chemicals vs existing Indian food production processes. JadooJal will test the efficacy of EW against critical spoilage/pathogenic microbes on valuable Indian food crops using microbiological & metagenomics analysis and will quantify the nutritional benefits arising from reduced spoilage. The better use of resources and the increase of nutritional food value will benefit the whole agri-food industry, that is pivotal in driving economic prosperity, development and societal inclusion.