Could This Cookie Made From Waste and Plastic Help Food Crisis?
The process converts more than 50% of waste carbon into food ingredients and is designed for use in resource-limited settings, researchers said.
- On Monday, Southern Illinois University researchers presented a process at the American Chemical Society meeting in Chicago for converting plastic and crop waste into 3D-printed cookies called 'Bites.'
- Originating from NASA's Deep Space Food Challenge, the project addresses plastic pollution while tackling projected global food demand increases of 35% to 56% by 2050.
- The team employs oxidative hydrothermal dissolution to break waste into carbon building blocks, which reprogrammed yeasts then convert into proteins and flavorings before 3D printing.
- Microbiologist Lahiru Jayakody noted the team is conducting simulated digestive studies and awaiting institutional approval before beginning human taste tests.
- Future iterations aim to achieve nearly 100 percent carbon conversion efficiency, with potential applications for meat and milk alternatives in space or disaster relief environments.
44 Articles
44 Articles
What if plastic could end up on our table? Not directly, of course, but after being transformed by microorganisms into new food ingredients. It is the path explored by researchers at Southern Illinois University of Carbondale, who have programmed some yeasts, including that of beer, to convert plastic and agricultural waste into proteins, fats, vitamins [...] The article From plastic to biscuits: yeasts that transform waste into food. The study …
From Plastic Bottles to Vanilla Cookies: Microbes Offer New Path Against Waste and Food Shortages
Scientists have found a way to turn discarded plastic bottles into something sweet and potentially edible. At Southern Illinois University Carbondale, a team led by biochemist Lahiru Jayakody has engineered yeasts and other microbes to transform polyethylene terephthalate, better known as PET, into proteins, vitamins and even vanilla flavor. The result? Cookies they call µBites. The work, presented this week at the American Chemical Society’s an…
Plastic waste still often ends up in combustion. US researchers now show an alternative way: they feed PET bottles to special microorganisms in the laboratory. They produce a nutrient mass from which cookies can be baked.
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