Vegetables

While everyone loves the thought of growing fresh veggies indoors, not everyone has the green thumb required to do so. The Plantaform system was designed with that fact in mind, as it grows edible plants automatically … using a nutrient-rich fog.

Whether you buy your veggies from a farmer's market or at the grocery store, you need to give them a good wash when you get home. But how clean is clean enough? Help is at hand from an unexpected source in the shape of the PureGo PD100 from Asus.

Every year, millions of eggs are rejected for sale in supermarkets, while millions of fruits and vegetables spoil before being eaten. Scientists are now addressing both problems, utilizing rejected eggs to create a coating that keeps produce fresh.

Engineers have developed a vegetable-picking robot that can autonomously harvest iceberg lettuce, a manually demanding crop for human pickers. Vegebot was trained using a machine-learning algorithm that helped it distinguish healthy lettuces ready for harvest, in a variety of weather conditions.

The world’s biggest vertical farm is set to be built – like so many other “world’s biggest” things – in Dubai, where it will grow salads and leafy greens for Emirates Airlines passengers.

We've already heard about experimental edible coatings made from silk, pectin and chitosan that increase the shelf life of fresh fruit and vegetables. Now, however, a coating made from waste plant material is being used on avocados sold in US supermarkets.

​It was back in April that we heard about how scientists had made concrete stronger and more eco-friendly by adding graphene to it. Now, researchers at Lancaster University are reporting that they've achieved even better results using cheaper "nano platelets" derived from root vegetable fibers.

Few works of art are as beautiful as nature, so why not frame nature and hang it on your wall at home? That's the premise behind the Wall Garden, a new aeroponic planter that is designed to hang like a picture and grow herbs, flowers and vegetables.

AstroGro is a space garden pod that combines 3D printing with artificial intelligence to produce a system that can be replicated and modified using standard additive printing technology.

For farmers in developing countries without refrigerators, a great deal of produce - and therefore profit - can be lost through spoilage. A new device seeks to tackle this problem by increasing the short-term storage time for fruit and veg. The Wakati stores produce in a sterilized microclimate.