A technique that involves zapping bread in a microwave array destroys the spores that causes bread to grow mouldy, thus keeping it mould free for two months, a company claims.
Microzap, the US company behind the technique, claims it could reduce the amount of wasted bread and the process could be used on other foods, such as fruits, vegetables and fresh turkey.
A metallic microwave device at Microzap’s laboratory in Lubbock, Texas, originally designed to kill bacteria such as MRSA and salmonella, can apparently kill mould spores in bread in about 10 seconds.
“We treated a slice of bread in the device, we then checked the mould that was in that bread over time against a control,” BBC News reported Microzap’s chief executive Don Stull as having said.
“And at 60 days it had the same mould content as it had when it came out of the oven.”
While Stull admitted consumers might be wary about buying bread that can last for months, he said that in using the microwave technology bakers could avoid adding preservatives to bread to fight mould in the first place.
Bread image via Shutterstock
