Made with maize, microbes, TNAU bio-bag degrades in just 50 days
In a first, researchers from the nanotechnology department of Tamil Nadu Agricultural University in Coimbatore have developed a bioplastic bag that can decompose in 50 days. And they did it with maize,
sorghum and microbes from a termite’s mouth.
“Every component for this bag is made from biological material. The plastic is made of polylactic acid, which can make it strong; polyhydroxy butyrate, which gives the bioplastic insolubility; and resin is used for binding,” says V Gomathy, professor and head of the department, who spearheaded the creation of this bioplastic.
The researchers say that the other bioplastics available in the market take longer to decompose because they contain calcium carbonate, which makes the plastic less biodegradable. It took Gomathy’s team 10 days to make the plastic. For the first four days, she used whey protein as a medium to grow lactobacillus bacteria, which was condensed to form polylactic acid. “This substance is also available in maize
plants,” she says.
Next, she extracted polyhydroxy butyrate from microbes inside a termite’s mouth. “This substance can fix nitrogen. So, when it is allowed to decompose, the end-compost will be rich in nitrogen.” Resin from the sorghum plant was used for binding.
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