Tag: plants

Tomato waste can protect tinned food. Meanwhile another Italian startup is aiming to extend the shelf life of fruit and vegetables - using waste from liquorice production. Certain materials in the ‘sweet root’ are effective against bacteria, viruses and fungal spores. In a patented process, root hairs from the plant are extracted then converted into nanoparticles, which are used...

Waste from beer production can be used as a leather alternative. If breweries aren’t inventing new types of beer, then maintaining the quality of hops is vital. Hops, after all, is what gives beer its distinctive taste. With climate change impacting consistent plant properties, a female-founded startup in Spain is mitigating the risk by growing hops vertically in 10m...

Pharmaceutical residues can be removed from effluent using pine bark. Now, a Singapore-based research team is looking to pomegranate peel to remove 4-nitrophenol from water. The toxin is used when producing dyes, pesticides and analgesics. The pomegranate peel is converted to biochar at 600° before being ground to nanoparticles through ultrasound treatment. The particles’ surface attracts the nitrophenol, which...

Foliage can be used to make sustainable paper and packaging material. Similarly, a Swedish startup is using seagrass that has been washed ashore to manufacture environmentally-friendly yarn. Until now the plant, which is present in large quantities on beaches, has simply been discarded. A recent feasibility study has shown it can be made into yarn without the addition of...

A maze-like material keeps insects away from plants. In France, meanwhile, a startup is creating sustainable pesticides from plant scents as around 80% of harmful insects are drawn to by these odours. The team deciphers which scents are particularly attractive for different species, and replicates the molecules in the lab. These can be used for the targeted defence of...

Cardamom provides protection against pathogens. And, as an Australia-based research team recently discovered, pathogens can also be held at bay using peppermint essential oil. This could be particularly important in the context of medical devices. In an initial test, plasma was used to apply an extremely thin film of peppermint oil to a urinary catheter. Enabling the oil molecules...

The farming industry could greatly reduce its pesticide use. But using natural solutions such as messengers released by female insects is better still. The Nobel prize-winning founder of a California-based startup has developed a process to produce these messengers, or pheromones, from raw materials and bio-catalysts. When sprayed on plants, these mask the pheromones naturally produced by female insects,...

Wastewater from soybean production can provide fodder for fish. Meantime, a university research team from the US has been experimenting with wastewater from beer and potato production, as the sodium acetate it contains is a carbon compound offering a low-cost alternative to glucose. Like glucose, it can be a carbon source for the protein-rich microalgae Chlorella sorokiniana. The team...