Biomaterials Technology for AgroFood Resilience

Abstract

This review article highlights recent advances in designing biomaterials to be interfaced with food and plants, with the goal of enhancing the resilience of the AgroFood infrastructure by boosting crop production, mitigating environmental impact, and reducing losses along the supply chain. Special attention is given to innovations in biomaterial-based approaches and platforms for 1) seed enhancement through encapsulation, preservation, and controlled release of payloads (e.g., plant growth-promoting microbes) to the seeds and their rhizosphere; 2) precision delivery of multi-scale payloads to targeted plant tissues, organelles, and vasculature; 3) edible food coatings that regulate gas exchanges and provide antimicrobial properties to extend the shelf life of perishable food; and 4) food spoilage detection based on different sensor/reporter systems. Within each domain, biomaterials design principles, emerging micro-/nanofabrication strategies, and the advantages and disadvantages of different delivery/preservation/sensing platforms are introduced and critically discussed. Views of future requirements, aims, and trends are also given based on the opportunities and challenges of applying biomaterials in the AgroFood system.

Engineered Living Materials For Sustainability

“…555,556 Living microorganisms incorporated in carriers and additives that enhance microbial survival form a layer of composite material on the surface of seeds, allowing a beneficial symbiosis with the root system to be built from the beginning of germination. 557 Several startups, including the California-based Andes 558 and Boston-based Ivu Biologics, 559 use a highly customizable platform 560,561 optimizing biosynthetic pathways with a reduced metabolic burden directed evolution strategies to select fastgrowing mutants combining living and nonliving materials (e.g., light-harvesting inorganic materials) to enhance production efficiency inferior material strength the performance of some ELMs may not be sufficient to meet real-world requirements. For example, the compressive strength of biomineralized living bricks is about 5 MPa, which meets only the minimum acceptable standards for Portland cement.…”

“…Other beneficial bacteria and fungi promote plant health by providing nutrients, inhibiting pathogen growth and enhancing abiotic stress tolerance . Among the various techniques used to deliver these living fertilizers to plant roots, seed coating has shown the most promise because it is more economical for large-scale applications than direct soil inoculation and less labor-intensive than plant inoculation methods such as root dipping or foliar spraying. , Living microorganisms incorporated in carriers and additives that enhance microbial survival form a layer of composite material on the surface of seeds, allowing a beneficial symbiosis with the root system to be built from the beginning of germination . Several startups, including the California-based Andes and Boston-based Ivu Biologics, use a highly customizable platform , to design living seed coatings that boost germination and fight against environmental stresses.…”

Integrating biopolymer design with physical unclonable functions for anticounterfeiting and product traceability in agriculture

“…Besides, given that anticounterfeiting devices applied to agricultural products will inevitably end up in the environment or might be ingested during food consumption, the materials used to make those devices should ideally be biodegradable, nontoxic, and even edible. In this respect, naturally derived biopolymers like silk fibroin from Bombyx mori cocoons represent a promising candidate, especially given its Generally Regarded as Safe (GRAS) status for human consumption issued by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ( 27 , 28 ).…”

Recent advances in seed coating technologies: transitioning toward sustainable agriculture

“…The rising need to achieve food security for a rapidly increasing world population at minimum environmental damage has increased research interest to provide innovative crop protection solutions, particularly via the use of biopolymers 13 and biologics. 14 Some recently published reviews 13,14 have summarized accomplishments achieved in the area as of now, however herein we have summarized seed coating research from a green chemistry perspective. In particular, we have targeted six out of the total twelve principles of green chemistry.…”