A method of forming a material structure from structural units contained within a liquid solution in a spray head is described. The liquid solution includes a solvent and a solute, the solute comprising a plurality of the structural units, the structural units including monomer units, oligomer units, or combinations thereof. The method comprises forming droplets of the liquid solution including the structural units, and spraying the droplets on a substrate, thereby substantially increasing the reactivity of the structural units within the droplets relative to the structural units within the liquid solution in the spray head. The increase in reactivity can result from the droplets containing an excess of a particular ion, the ion excess resulting from a voltage applied to conductive walls of the device which dispenses the droplets. The material structure is then formed on the substrate from the more highly reactive structural units within the droplets.

The invention provides a method for providing a non-uniform pigment distribution in a first plant part (110) of a pigment generating plant (100), which accumulates pigment upon exposure by light, during indoor cultivation of said plant (100), wherein the first plant part (110) comprises a second plant part (120) and a third plant part (130), the method comprising subjecting in a first lighting stage at least the first plant part (110) to first light conditions that inhibit or prevent pigment accumulation in said first plant part (110), and subsequently subjecting in a second lighting stage the second plant part (120) of said first plant part (110) to second light conditions that promote pigment accumulation in said second plant part (120) while subjecting the third plant part (130) of said first plant part (110) to third light conditions that inhibit or prevent pigment accumulation in said third plant part (130).

The invention provides a method for providing a non-uniform pigment distribution in a first plant part (110) of a pigment generating plant (100), which accumulates pigment upon exposure by light, during indoor cultivation of said plant (100), wherein the first plant part (110) comprises a second plant part (120) and a third plant part (130), the method comprising subjecting in a first lighting stage at least the first plant part (110) to first light conditions that inhibit or prevent pigment accumulation in said first plant part (110), and subsequently subjecting in a second lighting stage the second plant part (120) of said first plant part (110) to second light conditions that promote pigment accumulation in said second plant part (120) while subjecting the third plant part (130) of said first plant part (110) to third light conditions that inhibit or prevent pigment accumulation in said third plant part (130).

A method of forming a material structure from structural units contained within a liquid solution in a spray head is described. The liquid solution includes a solvent and a solute, the solute comprising a plurality of the structural units, the structural units including monomer units, oligomer units, or combinations thereof. The method comprises forming droplets of the liquid solution including the structural units, and spraying the droplets on a substrate, thereby substantially increasing the reactivity of the structural units within the droplets relative to the structural units within the liquid solution in the spray head. The increase in reactivity can result from the droplets containing an excess of a particular ion, the ion excess resulting from a voltage applied to conductive walls of the device which dispenses the droplets. The material structure is then formed on the substrate from the more highly reactive structural units within the droplets.

A method of forming a material structure from structural units contained within a liquid solution in a spray head is described. The liquid solution includes a solvent and a solute, the solute comprising a plurality of the structural units, the structural units including monomer units, oligomer units, or combinations thereof. The method comprises forming droplets of the liquid solution including the structural units, and spraying the droplets on a substrate, thereby substantially increasing the reactivity of the structural units within the droplets relative to the structural units within the liquid solution in the spray head. The increase in reactivity can result from the droplets containing an excess of a particular ion, the ion excess resulting from a voltage applied to conductive walls of the device which dispenses the droplets. The material structure is then formed on the substrate from the more highly reactive structural units within the droplets.

Examples provide a fruit ripening rack having a plurality of chambers for on-site produce ripening at a retail location. A controller component generates predicted demand for ripened fruit on a selected date at a selected location based on transaction history data and/or seasonal demand. The controller component calculates the quantity of fruit based on the predicted demand. The controller component determines conditions within each chamber to accelerate ripening of the calculated quantity of one or more types of fruit to one or more selected levels of ripeness on the selected date. The conditions include amount of ethylene gas in each chamber, length of exposure to the ethylene gas, temperature inside the chamber and/or humidity level inside the chamber. The fruit ripening rack controls internal conditions within each chamber to provide variable fruit ripening in accordance with per-chamber configurations to satisfy predicted daily demand at the selected location.

Examples provide a fruit ripening rack having a plurality of chambers for on-site produce ripening at a retail location. A controller component generates predicted demand for ripened fruit on a selected date at a selected location based on transaction history data and/or seasonal demand. The controller component calculates the quantity of fruit based on the predicted demand. The controller component determines conditions within each chamber to accelerate ripening of the calculated quantity of one or more types of fruit to one or more selected levels of ripeness on the selected date. The conditions include amount of ethylene gas in each chamber, length of exposure to the ethylene gas, temperature inside the chamber and/or humidity level inside the chamber. The fruit ripening rack controls internal conditions within each chamber to provide variable fruit ripening in accordance with per-chamber configurations to satisfy predicted daily demand at the selected location.

The disclosed technology includes a food system that prepares food based on a user's preferences and environment (e.g., health and diet, tastes, availability of food, costs, location, and what is stored or available for the food preparation system). The food system can store, cool, serve, prepare, juice, recognize with an antenna array, cut, weigh, sanitize, or compost food. The food system can include a robotic arm or water jet for cutting a food item. The disclosed technology improves food consumption for users based on diet and observed behavior (e.g., tracking caloric intake and exercise).

An apparatus and method for increasing Vitamin D content in mushrooms is disclosed. A mushroom slurry of comminuted or pulverized mushrooms or mushroom parts and liquid, such as water, is passed under a UV light source. The slurry may be conveyed to the UV light source by a vibrating conveyor. After UV light exposure, the treated slurry may be dried and ground into a powder, or the treated slurry may be filtered and the insoluble portion may be dried and ground into a powder. The irradiated mushroom powder has a mass fraction of Vitamin D2 of at least 2500 IU/gram of powder, and more preferably at least 20,000 IU/gram of powder. Irradiated mushroom powder may be incorporated into consumable food product for humans or animals, and/or may be incorporated into topical preparations for cosmetic use.

Embodiments of the present invention include an ingestible sticker including an edible paper and an edible ink on a surface of the edible paper creating a sticker image, wherein the sticker image is configured to be recognized by an augmented or virtual reality capable device.