- MustGrow (MGRO) reports successful postharvest applications in the treatment of stored potatoes
- MustGrow’s mustard-based technology outperformed leading synthetic chemical standards
- No combination treatment products currently exist that address both disease and sprouting
- Potato postharvest program may now transition to Sumitomo Corporation across the Americas and Bayer across Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa
- MustGrow Biologics Corp. (MGRO) is up 1 per cent, trading at C$3.03 at 3:59 pm EST
MustGrow Biologics Corp. (MGRO) reports successful postharvest trials of stored potatoes conducted by a third-party independent laboratory.
The postharvest trials monitored for disease control and sprout suppression.
MustGrow’s organic mustard plant-based technology outperformed leading synthetic chemical standards for the treatment of stored potatoes for both Fusarium dry rot disease and sprouting.
No combination solutions currently exist that treat both disease and sprouting – making MustGrow’s application unique in addressing both postharvest issues in potatoes simultaneously.
MustGrow’s postharvest development program may now transition to Sumitomo Corporation across the Americas (potatoes and bananas) and Bayer across Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa (potatoes only).
Further testing and trials are required to evaluate commercial potential. Additional postharvest applications may also be trialled, including disease control in large shipping containers.
MustGrow had previously announced separate collaboration agreements with Sumitomo Corporation and Bayer to evaluate the efficacy and commercial potential of MustGrow’s technology.
MustGrow’s mustard-derived technology was trialled versus hydrogen peroxide, a leading synthetic chemistry standard, to measure control (kill) of Fusarium dry rot (Fusarium sambucinum conidia and F. sambucinum).
MustGrow’s technology outperformed the chemical standard at multiple rates with statistical significance.
Disease control was measured after the five-week interval, highlighting the effectiveness of MustGrow’s technology at killing not only the Fusarium dry rot itself but also the disease’s ability to reform and replicate.
MustGrow’s mustard-derived technology outperformed the chemical standard in sprout suppression, chlorpropham, at multiple rates with statistical significance after the 5-week period.
Additionally, sprouts still remained absent at the conclusion of the trial, highlighting the MustGrow technology’s outperformance.
Sprout suppression utilizing MustGrow’s technology demonstrated over two times the length of control over the CIPC standard rate during the five-week study.
MustGrow’s technology has a short ‘half-life’ of 24-72 hours, whereas CIPC is known to accumulate within walls, surfaces, conveyor belts and facility concrete, with no sanitization procedure able to completely eliminate its presence.
CIPC has been banned by the European Union as of Oct. 8, 2020.
Excerpt from third-party laboratory report: “With pressure globally on chlorpropham as a sprout control for table potatoes, this treatment shows considerable promise as a single treatment to manage several major storage issues.”
Potatoes, the world’s fourth most important food crop in terms of human consumption after maize, wheat and rice, is a US$4 billion industry in the US, with as much as 33 per cent of yield lost per year due to postharvest issues – approximately US$1.3 billion in lost revenue.
Potatoes require up to nine months of storage and become waste without proper sprout suppression management, making postharvest sprout suppression a key element of potato storage.
The current annual sprout suppression market is estimated at US$60 million in Europe and over US$100 million globally.
The leading agrochemical product for sprout suppression, CIPC, was banned by the European Union on Oct. 8, 2020.
For over 60 years, CIPC has long been the major global sprout suppressant, widely applied to stored potatoes. With this ban now effective, potato growers will be forced to refrigerate produce, adding an estimated US$150 million annual expenditure in the European Union.
The additional capital expenditure and refrigeration energy consumption make this temporary approach unsustainable.
Although the ban was anticipated, no effective treatment alternatives have emerged – creating a major problem for existing potato storage sites.
MustGrow is a publicly-traded (MGRO) agriculture biotech company focused on providing natural science-based biological solutions for high-value crops, including fruits and vegetables and other industries.
MustGrow has designed and owns a US EPA-approved natural solution that uses the mustard seed’s natural defence mechanism to protect plants from pests and diseases.
MustGrow Biologics Corp. (MGRO) is up 1 per cent, trading at C$3.03 at 3:59 pm EST.
