Disclosed herein are compositions comprising insoluble alpha-glucan particles having a high degree of crystallinity and small particle size. For example, the alpha-glucan particles can have a degree of crystallinity of at least about 0.65, and/or an average size of less than a micron. At least 50% of the glycosidic linkages of the insoluble alpha-glucan in the disclosed particles are alpha-1,3 glycosidic linkages. Further disclosed are methods of producing insoluble alpha-glucan particles, as well as their use in various applications and products.

Some embodiments of a coating system can include a conveyor and an infrared panel positioned above the conveyor, where the infrared panel outputs infrared energy toward the conveyor bed, a coating device positioned above a brush bed that dispenses coating material towards the brush bed, wherein the brush bed is configured to receive products; and a drying station comprising a rolling conveyor downstream from the brush bed.

A method for treating a substrate with a volatile liquid, crop-preservative formulation includes transporting a predetermined quantity of the formulation from a reservoir to an injection device and applying the predetermined quantity to the substrate. The substrate may thereafter be in proximity to a crop to be treated by the vapor from the formulation. The substrate is most conveniently a portion of a container in which the crop is stored or shipped.

A method for treating a substrate with a volatile liquid, crop-preservative formulation includes transporting a predetermined quantity of the formulation from a reservoir to an injection device and applying the predetermined quantity to the substrate. The substrate may thereafter be in proximity to a crop to be treated by the vapor from the formulation. The substrate is most conveniently a portion of a container in which the crop is stored or shipped.

An application system for forming protective coatings over perishable items, including: a bed including a plurality of rollers, wherein each of the rollers is configured to rotate at a predetermined rotational rate, thereby causing the perishable items on the bed to rotate; one or more sprayers over a first portion of the bed; one or more blowers over a second portion of the bed; a mixing system configured to prepare a mixture including a coating agent in a solvent; and a liquid delivery system connected inline between the mixing system and the one or more sprayers.

An application system for forming protective coatings over perishable items, including: a bed including a plurality of rollers, wherein each of the rollers is configured to rotate at a predetermined rotational rate, thereby causing the perishable items on the bed to rotate; one or more sprayers over a first portion of the bed; one or more blowers over a second portion of the bed; a mixing system configured to prepare a mixture including a coating agent in a solvent; and a liquid delivery system connected inline between the mixing system and the one or more sprayers.

Compositions for forming protective coatings on, e.g., agricultural products, can form a bilayer structure on the surface of the agricultural product that forms a barrier to fluids such as water and gases.

A clove essential oil Pickering emulsion-based coating preservative, and a preparation method and use thereof. Preparing a 20 mg/ml zein solution with ethanol and a zein powder, preparing a 0.4 mg/ml to 6 mg/ml sodium caseinate solution with ultrapure water and sodium caseinate, and conducting magnetic stirring overnight; adding the zein solution dropwise into the sodium caseinate solution, and conducting magnetic stirring; conducting evaporation on the ethanol in the zein solution, and replacing evaporated ethanol with the ultrapure water; adding a clove essential oil, and conducting high-speed homogenization for 3 min to obtain a clove essential oil Pickering emulsion; and preparing a 1.5% w/v to 2% w/v chitosan solution with 1% v/v acetic acid and chitosan, adding the clove essential oil Pickering emulsion to the chitosan solution, conducting high-speed homogenization for 3 min, and conducting ultrasonic defoaming for 30 min to obtain the clove essential oil Pickering emulsion-based coating preservative.

Methods and systems for selectively applying a treatment to a plant item and/or managing a plant item supply chain are provided. The method may include conveying, in an industrial processing line, at least one plant item in the batch of plant items to a sensing region having one or more sensors, assessing, with the one or more sensors and a computing device, one or more properties of the at least one plant item associated with ripeness and/or another attribute, optionally conveying the at least one plant item to a treatment region, optionally determining a treatment to apply to the at least one plant item based on the assessed one or more properties; and optionally applying, in the treatment region, the treatment to the at least one plant item.

Methods and systems for selectively applying a treatment to a plant item and/or managing a plant item supply chain are provided. The method may include conveying, in an industrial processing line, at least one plant item in the batch of plant items to a sensing region having one or more sensors, assessing, with the one or more sensors and a computing device, one or more properties of the at least one plant item associated with ripeness and/or another attribute, optionally conveying the at least one plant item to a treatment region, optionally determining a treatment to apply to the at least one plant item based on the assessed one or more properties; and optionally applying, in the treatment region, the treatment to the at least one plant item.