Author: Rohini Chaki / Source: Atlas Obscura
One day soon, you may be able to have your Christmas tree and eat it too. Because if researchers at the University of Sheffield get their way, we’ll turn our Christmas trees into dessert.
In a piece for The Conversation, Cynthia Kartey, a doctoral student contributing to this research, explains that the university’s Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering is researching sustainable ways to convert the pine needles in used Christmas trees into new materials such as sugar and paint. A complex polymer called lignocellulose makes up 85 percent of the composition of pine needles. Since lignocellulosic biomass is rich in carbohydrates, Kartey and her colleagues want to break it down to make edible sweeteners.
Her laboratory is looking into liquefaction, which uses environmentally friendly solvents such as glycerol and water to turn the pine needles in spruce and fir trees into…
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