Anti-germinating agents: black spruce could replace CIPC
Chlorpropham (CIPC), a substance used to preserve potatoes, was banned in June 2019 by the European Commission - with a marketing authorization that expired on January 8th, 2020 - on the recommendations of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), which had determined that chlorpropham and its main metabolite, 3-chloroaniline, expose consumers to acute and chronic dietary risks.
CIPC is still authorized in Canada but could be banned in the future. That’s why Agrinova’s research center for potato producers, north of Quebec, decided to call on scientists to find a substitute.
Teams of female researchers, such as Nathalie Bourdeau of Innofibre and Isabel Desgagné-Penix of the University of Quebec in Trois-Rivières (UQTR), turned to the boreal forest. As explained on the site of Radio-Canada, “Michelle Boivin, student researcher at UQTR, gathers tree barks, branches and needles from the residues of the Saint-Félicien c