Tagged: NC State University

If you live anywhere near a college campus and don’t have a compelling reason to attend the half-dozen or so graduations going on in the Triangle and Triad, this might be a good weekend to get out of town. Tens of thousands of family and friends are set to descend on Durham, Raleigh, and Greensboro for commencement events throughout the weekend.

Researchers at N.C. State say oils extracted from herbs and spices could act as a natural disinfectant for fruits and vegetables. 

A joint project with the University of Tennessee aims to find an alternative to chlorine used on produce grown for mass consumption. Dr. Penelope Perkins-Veazie is a horticultural science professor at N.C. State's research campus in Kannapolis.  She says pungent spices tend to be best at fighting harmful germs.

"They have a very distinct odor, like cinnamon, for instance," Perkins-Veazie says.

Collegiate entrepreneurs from schools like Pitt, Florida State, Clemson and NC State gathered in Raleigh Wednesday for a different kind of ‘March Madness.’  These business-minded students were not on a basketball court.  Instead, they were bouncing around a working prototype in hopes of winning a big check and a foot in the start-up world.