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Language of Study: Japanese, Modern Languages
Subject major: Biomedical Sciences (NAU), Agriculture (Kyushu University), Dual Degree student
Country of Study: Japan
Host University: Kyushu University
Title of Work:
Development and Characterization of Alginate-Based Coatings Enriched with Marigold Essential Oil for Shelf-life Extension of Cherry Tomatoes
Abstract:
My work is a research internship via Northern Arizona University’s Interdisciplinary Global Program with Kyushu University’s Postharvest Science Laboratory. This research involves creating and characterizing an edible coating for using natural products infused with marigold essential oil to extend the shelf life and preserve fruit and vegetable quality. The main ingredient in the coatings is sodium alginate (SA), which is found in seaweed, with various amounts of marigold essential oil (MEO) also infused within the coating. Three different coatings were prepared: a pure SA coating, SA with 0.5% MEO, and SA with 1.0% MEO. These films were evaluated for their thickness, color, thermal properties, and barrier characteristics. Additionally, cherry tomatoes were then coated with these films and assessed for weight, firmness, color, pH, and microbial growth. The results reflected the coating of SA with 0.5% MEO coatings significantly improved shelf life and reduced microbial spoilage. The evaluations and findings can be further seen in a published research paper found via this link: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11947-025-04039-6.
Title of Work (Global Language):
マリーゴールド精油を豊富に含んだアルギン酸塩ベースコーティングの開発と特性評価によるミニトマトの保存期間延長
Abstract (Global Language):
私の研究は、北アリゾナ大学の学際的グローバルプログラムを通じて九州大学農学部農産食料流通工学研究室と共同で行う研究インターンシップです。この研究では、マリーゴールド精油を配合した天然素材を用いた食用コーティング剤を開発・特性評価し、果実や野菜の保存期間延長と品質維持を目指しています。コーティングの主成分は海藻由来のアルギン酸ナトリウム（SA）であり、これに様々な濃度のマリーゴールド精油（MEO）を配合しています。3種類の異なるコーティング処理を実施しました。純粋なSAコーティング、0.5% MEO含有SAコーティング、1.0% MEO含有SAコーティングです。これらのフィルムについて、厚さ、色調、熱特性、バリア特性を評価しました。さらに、ミニトマトにこれらのフィルムをコーティングし、重量、硬度、色調、pH、微生物増殖を評価しました。結果として、0.5% MEO含有SAコーティングは保存期間を大幅に延長し、微生物による腐敗を低減することが確認されました。詳細な評価と知見は、以下のリンクから公開研究論文で確認できます：https://doi.org/10.1007/s11947-025-04039-6.
Elevator Pitch Video
Elevator Pitch Video
Elevator Pitch Video Transcript
0:00 Hello, I'm Karen Gabriela Valenzuela Vasquez and this is me reaching out to everyone to come join me at this year's I GP Summit event.
0:07 So first of all, about me, I'm Karen Gabriela Valenzuela Vasquez and I went to university in Fukuoka, Japan last year.
0:14 Because I am a dual degree student, I was able to earn a degree.
0:19 From both Northern Arizona University and Keisha University, so my majors include biomedical sciences, Japanese from NYU and agriculture from Cush University.
0:30 My hobbies include knitting, crocheting, and scrapbooking, but basically anything crafty.
0:35 And I love Pompompurin, he's my idol.
0:39 Love everything about him, but back to Summit.
0:41 These are some of the topics that I want to talk about during Summit regarding the language and the culture.
0:49 So things like New Years, that's additional foods and activities that they would do around this time, Festivals, the common foods and the common activities that you'll usually see.
0:59 During these Japanese festivals and shrines and Galatians and mikes experiences with them.
1:04 And for language, it is basically anything that I learned while being in Japan and how I basically was able to grow more confident in learning the language and actually speaking it.
0:18 And as I research at the university.
1:22 Due to global warming, more research has been done regarding the use of plastic and As for food preservation, this usually requires more plastic globally.
1:32 So my research was to look for more sustainable and more cost effective alternatives and what I chose to do was to create an edible film of.
1:43 Sodium alginate and Marigold essential oil in order to preserve the shelf life of cherry tomatoes and I used sodium alginate from brown algae because it is biodegradable, edible, and it has good zone properties and Marigold essential oil because the flower is an edible flower native to Mexico, which is used in culinary.
2:04 Decorative and medicinal practices and the oil has been found to have antioxidants and antimicrobial properties.
2:10 So if you want to hear me talk more about my research and the outcome of this research, please come find me at the summit event.
2:22 So thank you so much for your time.
2:24 I really hope to see everyone there at Summit.
2:27 Thank you.
Digital Poster
Digital Poster
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