Long-Life Coatings for Offshore Structures

Coatings are used on offshore steel structures to prevent corrosion and to preserve their appearance. Conventional coating systems require repainting after only 10-15 years. Fluoropolymer coatings have been used on offshore structures since the mid-1980’s. These coatings offer excellent corrosion protection as well as good gloss and color retention for more than 30 years in some cases. Using fluorinated coating systems can substantially lower life cycle coating costs and require fewer maintenance cycles than conventional coatings.

Active packaging using Scenedesmus sp. and agar delays maturity and maintains post-harvest quality of 'Paluma' guavas

The use of new technologies is important for the preservation of guava, especially in reaching long-distance markets, being indispensable to associate storage techniques to increase the durability of fresh fruit. We evaluated the efficiency of edible coatings based on agar and Scenedemus sp. on the quality and post-harvest conservation of 'Paluma' guava. The experiment consisted of a randomized design with four replicates. The treatments (T) were composed of mixing concentrations between agar and Scenedesmus sp.: A: (0% + 0%); B: (0% + 0.5%); C: (0% + 1%); D: (0% + 2%); E: (3% + 0%); F: (3% + 0.5%); G: (4% + 0%) and H: (4% + 0.5%) applied by immersion. At the end of 11 days of storage at 10 °C ± 2ºC and 65% ± 5% RH, the fruit was analyzed. There was a significant effect (P < 0.05) of the coating based on Scenedesmus sp. on the brightness (L*) of the peel and pulp of guava, hue (°h) and chromaticity (C*) of the peel, loss of fresh mass, firmness of the pulp, ascorbic acid, titratable acidity, pH, SS/AT ratio, and total sugars. We observed a lower maturation and maintenance of the post-harvest quality of 'Paluma' guava with the active packages corresponding to treatments F and H. This included the maintenance of the indexes L*, C* and h of peel color, retention in the loss of fresh mass, in the firmness and maintenance of organic acids

Application of Thermosonication in Red Pitaya Juice Processing: Impacts on Native Microbiota and Quality Properties during Storage

The effects of thermosonication (TS) on microbial safety and quality of red pitaya juice during storage were assessed in this study. Freshly prepared red pitaya juices were thermosonicated at 475 W and 56 °C for 20 min. Upon TS processing, native microbiota including aerobic bacteria, yeasts, and molds reduced to less than 10 CFU/mL. Their growth during storage were slow and equal to thermal-processed (83 °C, 1.5 min) samples. During storage at 4 °C for 28 days, soluble solid content, pH, activities of polyphenol oxidase and peroxidase, and browning degree remained unchanged. A visible color decay was observed in TS-processed samples at day 10, mainly resulting from decomposition of betacyanins and the growth of residual native microbiota. Compared to thermal-treated juices, better color retention was obtained by TS treatment. Therefore, TS is a promising alternative technology of thermal methods of juice processing, with equal shelf life and better quality retention effects.

Comparative study of hexanal as a dip and electrospun nanofiber mediated vapour treatments on enhancing the shelf life of pears

Hexanal slows down the ripening process in fresh produce by inhibiting the activity of phospholipase D, thereby increasing their shelf life. This study focused on comparing the single time exposure and continuous exposure of post-harvest of ‘Anjou’ and ‘Bartlett’ pears to hexanal by dipping or fumigating to enhance their shelf life. Continuous exposure of hexanal was achieved by developing a hexanal encapsulated fiber (HEF), which releases hexanal vapor due to the increased humidity (96±2% RH) in the container headspace as a result of respiration. The fruits were stored at cold storage (0±2°C) conditions and compared with their capacity at normal room temperature (20±2°C). Fruit parameters such as physiological loss of weight (PLW), firmness and total soluble solids (TSS) showed only minor differences between hexanal treated and untreated fruits. Between the two varieties ‘Anjou’ exhibited higher values than ‘Bartlett’, although it was minor. However, when the fruits are visually evaluated, the main aspect of consumer preference, HEF treatments had a better appeal in both varieties and in both conditions. ‘Bartlett’ responded better than ‘Anjou’ even in cold storage conditions, suggesting that there are varietal differences in their response to hexanal. Both hexanal treatments helped color retention and reduced fungal infection during under the storage conditions tested.

Effect of a Biostimulant on Bermudagrass Fall Color Retention and Spring Green-Up

Field research was conducted in 2017–2019 on “Princess 77” bermudagrass (Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers.) to determine whether an amino acid based biostimulant program applied in the late season (October-November) and early season (March-April) could extend fall color retention (FCR) or hasten the spring green-up (SGU), respectively. Bermudagrass was treated with the biostimulant under five different managements: non-treated; 6 times at 5 L ha−1 weekly; 3 times at 5 L ha−1 in a 14-day interval; 6 times at 10 L ha−1 weekly; and 3 times at 10 L ha−1 in a 14-day interval. Normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and visual ratings (turf green color and percentage of green coverage in the subplot) were determined weekly, and turf clipping dry weight for the SGU studies. At the end of the FCR studies (2017 and 2018), there was no effect of the biostimulant; although, some isolated positive effects were detected during the experiment in 2017 on bermudagrass treated weekly at 10 L ha−1 for NDVI. However, there was a slight positive effect on SGU when this physiological process occurred slowly (year 2018) and the biostimulant was applied weekly at 10 L ha−1 (4.4 kg N ha−1), compared to another performed management and warmer years (2017 and 2019).

Aftertreatments of Sulfur Black 1 Dyed Cotton Fabric: Optimization of Process Parameters for Developing a Protective System to Improve Color Retention

Sulfur dyed cellulosic goods exhibit limited wash fastness against oxidative laundering; particularly to washing powder formulations containing activated bleaches. This study presents a novel two-bath exhaust finishing process to improve the wash fastness of Sulfur Black 1 dyed cotton fabrics reduced with two different reducing agents—sodium sulfide and a commercial glucose-based Diresul reducing agent D. The finishing process involves sequential aftertreatments with a cationic fixative and synthetic tanning agent (syntan). A Box-Behnken design with three variables: concentrations of cationic fixative and syntan, and application temperature of syntan (at three different levels) was studied to understand the effects of these variables on the color retention of the dyed cotton fabrics. Color retention of the sulfur dyeings was improved using the newly developed finishing process.