Evidence Base

Three products. One rigorous standard.

Every product is built on peer-reviewed evidence, transparently scored per claim — not per product. TRL is a property of a specific claim at a specific evidence level, not a badge applied to a product. The lead anchors are whole-extract, in vivo, on fruit — the standard the PMRA requires. This page presents the evidence for the two food-grade products (FreshGuard™, VitaFilm™) and for the PhytoGuard™ antifungal moat, with limitations stated explicitly. No avocado-seed-derived postharvest product is registered anywhere in the world.

Food Additive · Food-Contact LNO

Food-Grade Products · FreshGuard™ & VitaFilm™

Anti-browning and active packaging — outside the pesticide pathway.

TRL Scorecard — Food-Grade Products

Classification follows the claim: an anti-browning quality claim is a food additive, and a shelf-life / barrier claim is a food-contact material. Both route through Health Canada food regulation, not the PMRA — where the food-grade origin is a strength, not a burden.

FreshGuard™ — Anti-Browning (PPO)
TRL 3–4
FreshGuard™ lead · Food additive · most mature claim
Fermented avocado-seed extract inhibits polyphenol oxidase (PPO) and delays browning on real apple, banana and avocado pulp, benchmarked against ascorbic acid and L-cysteine. Yepes-Betancur et al. 2025 (Heliyon) — direct in-vivo evidence on the exact target matrices.
Gap to next level: Canadian-seed validation and lot standardisation. Routes through food regulation, not PMRA — months, not years.
VitaFilm™ — Active Packaging Films
TRL 2–3
VitaFilm™ · Food-contact material (LNO)
Bioactive films from avocado-seed starch characterised for active packaging (Muñoz-Gimena et al. 2026, eFood); polyphenol-activated coatings of this class have extended fruit shelf life by 15–20 days in the literature.
Gap to next level: Formulation and barrier characterisation. Cleared in Canada via a voluntary Health Canada Letter of No Objection.
Food-Grade Safety Envelope
TRL 4
Prerequisite — a strength, not a hurdle
Avocado-seed extract is Ames-negative with no genotoxicity; oral LD50 > 2000 mg/kg in rats (Padilla-Camberos et al. 2013; food-grade safety assessment, Molecules 2019). Persin is a minor seed fraction, reduced by the aqueous extraction.
Gap to next level: Per-batch certificate-of-analysis discipline (persin within spec). A managed lot-level specification, not a programme-defining hazard.

Why Food-Grade Wins

No pesticide registration. Months to revenue. A large, growing market.

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Pesticide registrations required — food additive / food-contact pathways
TRL 3–4
FreshGuard™ anti-browning — the most mature claim in the platform
Months
Time-to-first-revenue on the food-grade products, not years
15–20
Days of shelf-life extension reported for VitaFilm™-class coatings

Key Food-Grade Citations

Yepes-Betancur, D.P. et al. (2025)
Inhibitory effect of fermented avocado seed extract on polyphenol oxidase and its application as anti-browning agent in avocado, apple and banana pulps (Heliyon).
Role: TRL 3–4 anchor for FreshGuard™. Direct in-vivo anti-browning on the exact target matrices vs. ascorbic acid and L-cysteine.
Muñoz-Gimena, P.F. et al. (2026)
Sustainable bioactive films from avocado seed starch for active packaging (eFood).
Role: Basis for VitaFilm™. Characterises bioactive films from the starch stream — the loop-closing third product.
Padilla-Camberos, E. et al. · Molecules (2013 / 2019)
Acute toxicity and genotoxic activity of avocado seed extract; Safety assessment of a food-grade acetogenin-enriched antimicrobial extract from avocado seed.
Role: Food-grade safety envelope: Ames-negative, no genotoxicity, oral LD50 > 2000 mg/kg.
FreshGuard™ Overview VitaFilm™ Overview
Bio-Antifungal · PMRA

PhytoGuard™ · Bio-Antifungal Evidence

Polyphenol/acetogenin antifungal — whole extract, in vivo, on fruit.

TRL Scorecard — PhytoGuard™ (Per-Claim)

TRL scored per pathogen claim — the methodologically correct approach for a multi-target biopesticide, and the level at which Bioenterprise and the PMRA assess evidence. The lead claim is whole-extract, in vivo, on citrus fruit. Secondary targets are scored honestly, pending their own in-vivo data.

Citrus Green & Blue Mould (Penicillium)
TRL 3
Primary Claim · PMRA Dossier Anchor
Avocado stone extract controls citrus postharvest green and blue mould — whole extract, in vivo, on fruit. Lima de Souza et al. 2026 (Postharvest Biology and Technology). The standard the PMRA requires for a biochemical pesticide.
Gap to next level: Applicant's own postharvest in-vivo trial on the target commodity/pathogen (TRL 4). The assay uses harvested fruit and completes in weeks.
Botrytis cinerea
TRL 2–3
Associated Secondary Target
Antifungal activity of seed acetogenins against Botrytis cinerea (Echenique-Martínez et al. 2021): IC50 75.42 mg/L; fungistatic 661 mg/L; 78% reduction in conidial germination.
Gap to next level: In-vivo, on-fruit plant-protection data — the step to TRL 4, run in the shared postharvest assay.
Other Storage Pathogens
TRL 2–3
Associated Secondary Target
Broader antimicrobial activity from MAE aqueous seed extracts (Skenderidis et al. 2021) and avocado peel/seed extracts against plant pathogens (Leontopoulos et al. 2022).
Gap to next level: Each target pending its own postharvest in-vivo data. Added in co-registration submissions.

Mode of Action

Polyphenol/acetogenin-mediated disruption of fungal cell-membrane integrity. Avocado-seed polyphenols and acetogenins interact with ergosterol and membrane phospholipids, causing permeabilisation, loss of membrane potential, and cell lysis — a naturally occurring, non-toxic mode of action. Whole-extract, in-vivo, on-fruit evidence: control of citrus postharvest molds by avocado stone extract (Lima de Souza et al. 2026). This non-toxic mode of action is what qualifies the substance for the PMRA biochemical (biopesticide) stream rather than the conventional dossier.

Competitive White Space

Zero registered products. Globally. In either the PMRA or US-EPA registry.

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PMRA-registered avocado-seed postharvest products (PMRA registry)
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US-EPA registered avocado-seed postharvest products
$1.72B
Global biofungicide market, 2025 — projected ~$3.93B by 2035 (~8.6% CAGR)
Faster
Bio-fungicide segment growing faster than synthetic alternatives

Key PhytoGuard™ Citations

Lima de Souza, R. et al. (2026)
Control of citrus postharvest green and blue molds by avocado stone extract.
Postharvest Biology and Technology
Role: TRL 3 lead anchor — whole extract, in vivo, on citrus fruit. The PMRA pre-submission claim.
Echenique-Martínez, A. et al. (2021)
Antifungal effect of acetogenins from avocado (Persea americana Mill.) seed against the fungus Botrytis cinerea.
International Food Research Journal 28(5)
Role: Secondary target — Botrytis cinerea. Seed-only; IC50 75.42 mg/L; quantified dose-response.
Skenderidis, P. et al. (2021)
In vitro and in vivo antimicrobial activity of vacuum microwave-assisted aqueous extracts from avocado seeds.
Plants (MDPI)
Role: MAE method-matched evidence — the extraction route behind the lead citrus claim. MIC/MBC quantified.
Hernández-Martínez, M.A. et al. (2022)
Antifungal activity of avocado seed recombinant GASA/Snakin PaSn.
Antibiotics 11(11):1558
Role: Seed-specific antifungal peptide mechanism. TRL 2–3 mode-of-action confirmation.
Mir-Cerdà, A. et al. · Kumar, K. et al. (2023 / 2021)
Bioactive phenolics from agri-food waste in a circular bioeconomy; ultrasound-assisted extraction of by-product bioactives.
TrAC; Ultrasonics Sonochemistry
Role: Independent validation that SeedCircle's UAE extraction follows a recognised circular-bioeconomy model.
PhytoGuard™ Track Overview PhytoGuard Roadmap