Scientists at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore are tackling meals waste by turning waste durian husks into antibacterial gel strips.
The course of extracts cellulose powder from the rind of fruits when they’re chopped and freeze-dried, then mixes it with glycerol. This combination turns into a tender hydrogel, which is then lower into bandage strips.
Professor William Chen, Director of the Food Science and Technology Program, mentioned: “In Singapore, we consume about 12 million durians a year, so apart from the meat, there’s not much we can do about the husks and seeds, and that’s why There is environmental pollution.” in NTU.
William Chen, Director of the Food Science and Technology Program of Nanyang Technological University (NTU), holds a durian husk whereas Dr. Tracy Cui, Research Fellow at NTU, holds a hydrogel sheet produced from durian husk pose in Singapore, September 16, 2021. (Reuters)
The fruit husk, which makes up greater than half of durian’s composition, is normally discarded and consumed, contributing to environmental waste. Chen mentioned the expertise may convert different meals waste, akin to soy beans and spent grains, into hydrogels, serving to to restrict the nation’s meals waste.
Compared to conventional bandages, organo-hydrogel bandages are additionally capable of preserve wound areas cool and moist, which may help pace up therapeutic.
The researchers say that utilizing waste supplies and yeast for antimicrobial bandages is less expensive than producing typical bandages, whose antimicrobial properties come from costlier metallic compounds akin to silver or copper ions.
Tan Ang Chuan, a durian wholesaler, mentioned he passes by a minimum of 30 crates of durian a day in the course of the durian season – as a lot as 1,800 kilograms. He mentioned with the ability to use the components of the fruit which might be normally discarded was an innovation that might make it “more sustainable.”
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With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
