Spain: Biodegradable plastic from tomato skin

Researchers at the Institute of Science Materials of Seville (CSIC-US) and the University of Malaga (UMA) have created a biodegradable plastic from tomato skin with applications in the field of nutrition and health, Ecoticias reports. Andalusian experts took as a reference the main component of the epidermis of the skin of this fruit: a biopoliester called cutin, which is the matrix of the cuticle layer covering certain parts of higher plants. The main function of this biopolymer is to preserve the loss of water from inside cells and to act as an interface between the plant and the external environment.

José Jesús Benitez Jiménez, project manager, said "cutin product is seen as a biocompatible, biodegradable and non-toxic nature itself, used as a protective layer of fruit and leaves, and therefore can be adapted and used as artificial, commercial material for food packaging. "The resulting material of the process is viscoelastic with a perfect thickness. The orange material is safe and biodegradable and its durability is the same as that of the original fruit skin. "Today we are testing mechanical strength, elasticity, transparency and opacity...The raw material is free, industrial waste from the food industry,"   according to the project manager. Although cutin is the most abundant lipid polymeric material in the biosphere, and has been known for some time, its formation in plants from the constituent monomers is not well described yet. So far, "only" tomato skin has been tested.

Ecoticias