IIT Kharagpur researchers have developed cellulose nanocrystals from cucumber peels with high cellulose content, which can be used to create food packaging materials. Their study revealed that cucumber peels possessed greater cellulose content (18.22%) than other peel waste. It also provided better insights into their crystalline, thermal and colloidal properties of cucumber cellulose. This non-toxic, biodegradable and biocompatible product has no adverse effects on health and the environment hence could have a huge market potential by rendering management of organic waste with high cellulose content profitable. Apart from the food packaging and beverage industries the researchers are optimistic about its scope in various fields like thermo-reversible and tenable hydrogels making, paper making, coating additives, food packaging materials, bio-composites, optically transparent films, as stabilizers in oil-water emulsion. Also, CNCs find good potential applications in biopharmaceutical applications such as drug delivery and fabricating temporary implants like sutures, stents etc.

Cite this paper: Prasanna, N. S., and Mitra, J. (2020). Isolation and characterization of cellulose nanocrystals from Cucumis sativus peels. Carbohydrate Polymers, 247, 116706. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.carbpol.2020.116706

Further details: https://kgpchronicle.iitkgp.ac.in/cucumber-peels-for-food-packaging-iit-kgp-researchers-develop-new-ecofriendly-material/