A report at the beginning of this month (Sept. 2018) by Growing Produce explained that innovation has a funny way of finding its way into the fruit industry. Which is why a meeting at WSU’s Center for Precision & Automated Agricultural Systems (CPAAS) has turned into something with great potential for the future of frost protection in fruits.

"I’m in horticulture. I wouldn’t have known about these other things," he said. "You can make some of these connections that wouldn’t have been made otherwise," he said.

One such connection has been forged with cellulose nanocrystals — a byproduct of the forestry industry. During a meeting with Xiao Zhang, Associate Professor of Voiland School of Chemical Engineering and Bioengineering and WSU Tri-Cities’ Bioproducts Science Engineering Laboratory, the idea of applying cellulose nanocrystal for frost protection came up.

"They have extraordinarily good insulating properties," Whiting said of cellulose nanocrystals. "As I learned more about the thermal properties, I became intrigued at the possibility of utilizing those for frost protection.

 

More information is in the full article available online.