SafeWax – Introducing SmartVitiNet’s New Partner in Sustainable Agriculture
- SmartVitiNet
- Jun 12
- 3 min read
Updated: Jun 16
SmartVitiNet is excited to announce the partnership with SafeWax, a Horizon Europe-funded project that shares our vision of advancing sustainability and innovation in the agricultural sector. As both projects strive to improve the sector with resource efficiency through smart, eco-friendly technologies, this partnership opens the door for exciting knowledge exchange and shared impact across Europe’s farming communities.
Who is SafeWax? What do they do?
SafeWax is a synthetic, bio-inspired, biodegradable wax coating designed for multi-functional crop protection. Drawing inspiration from plant cuticles with properties like super-hydrophobicity, anti-adhesion, and self-cleaning, SafeWax operates through a completely passive mode of action. It forms a hierarchical structure of wax crystals that significantly reduces the contact area between pathogens (such as fungi) and the plant surface, thereby preventing adhesion and germination, which is the crucial first step in the infection process. In stark contrast to many current agrochemicals that pose serious environmental and health risks, SafeWax is made from natural, abundant, and biodegradable fatty acids that can be sourced from vegetable food waste, making it a sustainable and environmentally friendly solution applied via spraying technologies.
Crucially, its passive mechanism of action inherently lowers the chance of pathogens developing resistance, a major challenge with conventional chemical fungicides. Beyond its primary antifungal purpose, SafeWax also confers hydrophobicity, enables self-cleaning and intelligent water harvesting, enhances CO2 absorption, and provides UV radiation screening, ultimately leading to crops more resilient to fungal diseases and dehydration.
SafeWax is an ingenious, biologically-inspired, and environmentally friendly wax coating, engineered to provide multi-functional and comprehensive protection for crops. Drawing inspiration from the sophisticated defensive mechanisms embedded within the plant cuticle and through advanced engineering in the lab, SafeWax is designed to bestow even the most vulnerable crops with comprehensive protection they were not naturally endowed with.
SafeWax aims to bring about a radical paradigm change in crop protection strategies, ultimately revolutionising Europe’s agriculture through its eco-friendly, passive, and sustainable approach to crop protection.
"The grand ambition of the SafeWax initiative is nothing less than the realization of a world where affordable, safe, and wholesome food is accessible to millions, thus advancing both planetary health and human prosperity."- Prof. Boaz Pokroy, SafeWax Project Coordinator.
Behind the scenes of Safewax, who are the partners?
The project is implemented by 5 partners with different expertise and backgrounds.
TECH serves as the overall project coordinator, represented by Prof. Boaz Pokroy from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering. His group leads the development and validation of the SafeWax coating on grapevines and is responsible for translating its impact to additional crops, such as wheat.
A second research group at the Technion, led by Prof. Ester Segal from the Department of Biotechnology and Food Engineering, is involved in the project through its expertise in studying biointerfaces between nanostructured materials and microorganisms such as fungi and bacteria.
University of Bologna (UniBo):
UniBo leads the Proof of Concept (PoC) for SafeWax's efficacy and safety in grapevine plants. The partner evaluates SafeWax's effectiveness on controlling vine diseases under simulated and vineyard conditions, as well as studying its physiological effects on plants. Furthermore, UniBo leads the preliminary efficacy and safety testing on other crops like wheat and tomato.
BASF:
BASF acts as a leading industrial partner, providing extensive experience and state-of-the-art facilities for applying and assessing SafeWax formulations.
EAS functions as the leading Regulatory Partner, ensuring that regulatory pathways are considered from the design phase of the project. Leads the preliminary ecotoxicological assessment and environmental, social, and economic impact assessment.
IVF is an applied research centre in the wine sector, providing in-depth scientific and technical knowledge of vine physiology and diseases. Plays a crucial role in the field evaluation of SafeWax treatment to control grapevines diseases in vineyards, particularly in France
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