Humans have been preserving food since prehistoric times to ensure they have enough food to eat and to expand their culinary options. For this, packaging plays a crucial role.
Innovative packaging isn’t always about high-technology. Sometimes the most effective solutions are found in traditional methods honed over centuries, such as curing, drying, fermenting, freezing, pickling, salting, and smoking.
Many of the modern-day technologies used to extend the shelf life and longevity of food entails the addition of hazardous chemicals. Moreover, freezing and storing fruits in a fridge can only extend its lifespan for about a week or so.
In Afghanistan, grape cultivation is one of the major industries that contribute to almost half of the country’s fruit production. Due to the lack of controlled atmosphere storage plants, Afghan farmers use novel methods of food preservation with air-tight, mud-straw containers called kanjina. The sustainable packaging method is used to keep an easily-perishable fruit such as grapes fresh for up to six months. These traditional containers maintain freshness without the need for modern refrigeration or chemicals, with just the fruit’s natural properties and the techniques passed down through generations.
Usually, Afghan farmers choose kanjinas for storing the sweet, subtly tart Taifi grapes, which have thicker skins and are harvested at the end of the season.
Although this pot is beneficial for grape preservation, it is fragile and heavy in weight. Despite the practice’s generation-to-generation longevity, it has been barely documented. The seal of the clay-rich mud keeps out air and moisture like Tupperware and ziplock bags, protecting the fruit from damage.
Such traditional practices are reminders of the power of simplicity and the ingenuity in sustainable solutions. Continuing to push the boundaries of innovative packaging, there’s a lot that can be learnt from these methods that prioritise environmental consciousness and resourcefulness.
Afghanistan’s method of fruit preservation could inspire modern applications that blend technology with tradition to create low-cost, environmentally friendly packaging solutions worldwide.
