About 98% of lignin is created from plants as a forestry by-product, but new enzymes may be key to extracting high-value molecules from these wastes using green chemical methods that are the basis for these compounds, such as perfumes, seasonings, fuels, fuels and treatments, turning them into wasteful resources.
“The traditional chemical processes used to synthesis these chemicals rely on the starting compounds of petroleum and heavy metal catalysts, making them non-renewable and inherently toxic processes.” Fiona Whellan, a cryogenic electron microscope from the University in Adelaide Natural Communications.
“This new catalytic processing method will support the development of other new green chemical ‘enzyme plants’ or biorefineries to turn lignin and other biowaste streams into valuable repositories of quality chemicals.”
Lignin is the name of the hard polymer that gives mechanical support to hardwood and softwood, and is one of the most abundant polymers on the planet.
Agriculture and forestry accumulate about 100 million tons of waste lignin each year, but this can be transferred to promising renewable and sustainable feedstocks for chemicals currently available from fossil fuels.
“The strategy of using lignin involves a combination of chemical and biological processes,” said Stephen Bell, an associate professor in the university’s School of Physics, Chemistry and Earth Sciences.
“Use high temperatures, high pressures, strong acids and toxic solvents to break down polymers in the waste stream.
“The valuable compounds trapped in the waste are then extracted and further chemical processing is performed at temperatures above 400°C to ‘VARORISE’ lignin. These processes are expensive and unfavorable to the environment.”
Hardwood lignin has two key chemical components that require processing to make useful compounds.
Researchers have previously discovered an enzyme that can be used to break down one of these compounds, which can also be found in softwood, but no biodecomposition process can be identified using a second more complex hardwood compound, which accounts for about 50% of the waste.
“The biodecomposition of lignin occurs in complex microbial legal bodies, and fungal enzymes can destroy hard polymers, while bacteria will absent compounds and process them to obtain metabolic energy,” Dr. Whelan said.
“Looking at the Kingdom of Microbiology, we identified soil bacteria, Amygdala thermal defatcontaining enzymes that can be treated cheaply from lignin, use hydrogen peroxide to drive the reaction – reducing the harm to the environment. ”
The team uses this new enzyme as a model for adapting hydrogen peroxide-driven activity into other enzymes to generate future green chemistry methods to generate high-value use chemicals in the flavor, fragrance and pharmaceutical chemistry industries.
The University of Adelaide and the University of South Australia are joining forces to become Australia’s new major university – the University of Adelaide. Based on the strengths, heritage and resources of two major universities, the University of Adelaide will conduct globally relevant research, innovation, industry knowledge teaching and outstanding student experience on a large scale. The University of Adelaide will open in January 2026. Find more information on the University of Adelaide website.
If you find this report useful, consider supporting our work with a small donation. Your contribution allows us to continue to bring you accurate, thought-provoking scientific and medical news that you can trust. Independent reporting requires time, effort, and resources, and your support makes it possible for us to continue exploring stories that are important to you. Thank you so much!
