Towards green chemicals and edible coatings from barks and peels with near critical extraction of suberin

Abstract

One-step suberin extraction from suberoligneous by-products provides sustainable solutions for food and material industries.

Transforming wastes into functional materials: natural cork-based physical structural components and polymers

“…Depolymerized suberin, sourced from cork powder (industrial waste), has been harnessed to synthesize environmentally friendly bio-polyester synthetic foams alongside expandable microspheres, showcasing its potential as a substitute for conventional petroleum-based polymers. 83 With full polymerization using the optimal glycerol amount (5.77 wt%), the synthesized foams demonstrated porosity ranging from 77% to 94%, akin to reported cork porosity. These synthetic foams may hold an advantage in weight reduction owing to their enhanced specific compression modulus, which increased by 66% with the incorporation of EM from 20 wt% to 30 wt% (Fig.…”

“…Although the lowest foam density achieved slightly exceeded that attained through a pre-reaction step (166–207 kg m −3 ), the process boasted the advantage of being quicker and incorporating renewable elements into the foam. 83…”

Multifunctional Biogenic Films and Coatings from Synergistic Aqueous Dispersion of Wood-Derived Suberin and Cellulose Nanofibers

“…The leaching of pure suberin film when immersed in water for 24 h was 2.70 % and the leaching was reduced to 0.99 % when CNF was added. Overall, it is likely that possible leached suberin residues have only a minor effect on product safety as suberin has reported to be suitable for edible coatings in a recent study (Lecart et al, 2023).…”

“…In addition to the typical primary biopolymeric constituents of wood (cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin), birch bark contains a complex mixture of several biologically active substances. Suberin is a polyester sandwiched between the primary and tertiary cell walls of the outer bark of birch trees (Lecart et al, 2023). It comprises poly-aliphatic and polyphenolic domains linked in a three-dimensional polyester network (Mission & Cocero, 2022).…”