Chapter 197

Qing Mengzhu stopped and pondered the question, "Is it that it's difficult to preserve, or difficult to transport?"

Zhao Hexi: "I think both are true. Berries like strawberries and mulberries, which are particularly fragile, are more difficult to preserve."

Qing Mengzhu: "Isn't the chitosan preservative we're using working well?"

Zhao Hexi: "It's so-so, nothing particularly useful."

Zhao Hexi took a chair from the side and chatted with Qing Mengzhu: "I asked Old Gu and the others about developing preservatives before. They said chemical preservatives are easier to use. For the safe and non-toxic ones we require, we use propolis, chitosan, tea polyphenols, and the like."

Qing Mengzhu nodded. "Safety is the most important thing."

Zhao Hexi: "Right, if we're looking for safe preservatives, then there's not much difference between them and the ones we use now."

Qing Mengzhu: "I remember bamboo vinegar also works. Have you tried bamboo vinegar?"

Zhao Hexi: "I tried it, but it didn't work. The bamboo vinegar is sour; once you soak the fruit in it, it's like soaking the fruit in vinegar. It completely marinates the fruit, making it inedible."

Qing Mengzhu: "That definitely won't work."

Zhao Hexi stretched his arms and legs and yawned. "Anyway, we'll just make do with what we have for now. We'll see if there are any new technologies on the market, and if there are, we'll switch to something else."

Qing Mengzhu: "I've been thinking about it too. Waiting for new technologies might be a bit too much. We could research similar technologies ourselves."

Qing Mengzhu hadn't really paid much attention to preservatives before.

The main reason they deliver vegetables is that they are short-distance deliveries, which can usually reach each household within a day, so the need for preservatives is not very urgent.

However, as they open more and more farms and orchards across the country, the transportation of their products will likely become increasingly problematic, and they will need to find ways to develop new preservatives.

After seeing Zhao Hexi off, Qing Mengzhu pondered this matter.

He searched for preservatives in the Interstellar Mall and found quite a few products from cultivation worlds.

These products are all related to spiritual energy and are extremely expensive. It's definitely unrealistic to expect them to buy them to preserve ordinary vegetables and fruits.

He hoped to find some raw materials for preservatives, preferably those that could be grown in their world.

When Ming Chunxi returned, Qing Mengzhu was still searching, but without success.

Qing Mengzhu was a little worried.

After listening, Ming Chunxi slowly said, "Speaking of preservatives, I heard about a similar project when I was doing my doctoral studies. The project involved the utilization of coffee by-products, and the final product seemed to include a preservative."

Qing Mengzhu in surprise, "Coffee?"

Ming Chunxi nodded. "It should be an application like caffeine. I remember caffeine can inhibit bacteria and kill insects, so it should play a role in preservation."

Qing Mengzhu: "Indeed. But I didn't know that if you hadn't mentioned it, there seems to be relatively little research on this topic in China?"

Ming Chunxi: "Perhaps it's because related research in our country started relatively late. I'll search for relevant information later to see if I can find any?"

Qing Mengzhu stood up. "No problem. If coffee is really good, and we happen to have so much land in our orchard, growing coffee is a good option."

Ming Chunxi: "Let's eat first, and then we'll continue our investigation and discussion."

Chapter 197

After dinner, Ming Chunxi turned on her computer and searched for documents related to caffeine and preservatives.

There is indeed relevant research abroad, and the technology is relatively mature.

After reading several academic papers, Qing Mengzhu said, "I wonder how effective caffeine is at preserving food? Let's buy some and try it out."

Ming Chunxi: "There may not be any relevant products domestically. If not, we'll have to import them."

Qing Mengzhu: "I think it's there? I'll go search for it."

There are indeed caffeine preservatives on online shopping apps, but they are not mainstream, and they are relatively expensive with few reviews.

Qing Mengzhu read several reviews and finally bought the three best-selling caffeine preservatives, intending to give them a try.

The coffee preservative arrived, Qing Mengzhu delivered it to Zhao Hexi, urging Zhao Hexi to use it as soon as possible.

After receiving the caffeine preservative Zhao Hexi asked, "Are we really starting to research this preservative? Does that mean we're going to grow coffee?"

Qing Mengzhu: "I originally planned to grow coffee, otherwise, with so much space left in that orchard in Qiongwei City, I wouldn't know what to plant."

Zhao Hexi perked up. "Growing coffee would be great. I used to drink coffee when I was working, and I thought it tasted pretty good. Will we have milk next year? Using our own milk to make our own coffee sounds really nice."

Qing Mengzhu hadn't thought of this before, but after imagining it for a moment as he spoke, she felt it was quite a good idea. "Then I'll see if we should buy a larger coffee tree. It seems that coffee trees don't bear fruit for another three or four years."

Zhao Hexi: "How long it takes to get the results is secondary. Just remember to buy some good-tasting coffee. I've heard that the coffee berries from different coffee trees have a particularly big impact on the flavor of the coffee."

Qing Mengzhu: "Do you have a favorite type of coffee?"

Zhao Hexi recalled for a moment and said regretfully, "No, the coffee I drank before was all low-end coffee. I didn't even have the chance to choose the coffee beans. I just relied on caffeine to stay awake. If you want to ask about the taste of the coffee, you'll probably have to ask Chunxi."

Qing Mengzhu: "When he gets back, I'll ask him, 'Why don't you try this caffeine preservative first and see if it works better than the chitosan preservative we used before?'"

Zhao Hexi: "Okay, I'll try picking some riper tomatoes, and pea shoots too, they rot very easily."

Zhao Hexi went to test the preservative, Qing Mengzhu collected information on coffee.

The main coffee production in China is in Province D, where there are several well-known coffee plantations.

He went to the online stores of those coffee shops and placed several orders for the best-selling coffees.

That evening, Ming Chunxi returned home, and Qing Mengzhu talked to him about the coffee brand.

Ming Chunxi mentioned several coffee varieties, including Arabica, Liberica, Golden Cherry, and Robusta, and collected information to show Qing Mengzhu.

Qing Mengzhu felt both were good; as long as the coffee trees were of good quality, it seemed like any kind of coffee could be grown.

Ming Chunxi reminded him, "Don't just look online, let's check the Interstellar Mall to see if they have any suitable coffee trees."

Qing Mengzhu: "I don't think so. I haven't seen it before."

Ming Chunxi: "Maybe there will be? Aren't there also technological planes? Technological planes might sell related tree species."

Qing Mengzhu then searched online and discovered that the Interstellar Mall not only had coffee trees, but the number of coffee trees far exceeded their expectations.

Qing Mengzhu: "My goodness, there are over a hundred varieties of coffee trees! Look!"

Ming Chunxi looked at the coffee trees and said thoughtfully, "There are more than I expected."

Looking at the coffee tree above, Qing Mengzhu asked softly, "Where do you think this Interstellar Mall came from? Could it be a product of our Earth?"

Ming Chunxi: "With our technology, we probably can't create such an Interstellar Mall."

Qing Mengzhu: "What about later? Maybe it traveled through time and space, and isn't a product of our time."

While they were chatting, the Interstellar Mall did not respond at all.

Ming Chunxi looked at the Interstellar Mall: "We'll explore that later. Let's look at the coffee tree first."

The Interstellar Mall has 137 varieties of coffee trees, but it only sells seeds, not saplings.

The prices of these seeds vary greatly, with the cheapest costing only 53 Star Coins per pack and the most expensive costing 66,000 Star Coins per pack.

The seeds that cost 53 Star Coins per pack were only of "Good Grade" quality, while the seeds that cost 66,000 Star Coins per pack were of "Fine Grade+" quality.

Regardless of price range, seeds are currently within their consumption budget.

Qing Mengzhu showed the search results to Ming Chunxi: "Which one should we buy?"

Ming Chunxi answered without hesitation, "The most expensive."