一名24岁的学生已经从土豆中开发了一种环保塑料- an ideal alternative for disposable table ware and straws used in the fast food industry. Pontus Norquist, the 24-year-old student, made this eco-friendly plastic with water and potato husk that decomposed in a few months. For this he, he heated potato husk with water. At each stage, the soluble thickened and later placed it in the template to make spoons and other items. It is a kind of thermoplastic that makes it hard at high temperature but soft at low temperature. Bags, cutlery, and straws can also be made as potatoes are prepared for plastic for special food industry.

所有生物塑料都始于植物的天然糖或淀粉，而甘蔗或玉米淀粉通常是首选的原料。但是，根据水含量的不同，土豆可能含有13％至23％的干物质（淀粉），可能是某些塑料的理想选择。根据农业和加拿大农业食品的农业生物产品创新计划的资助，“马铃薯是淀粉工厂”李刘博士说。More than 30 food scientists, molecular biologists and plant production specialists across Canada investigated possible functional food-ingredient and non-food applications in an effort to find new, more profitable crops for Canada’s potato farmers, whose crop was valued at nearly US$1.13 billion in 2009.

发酵、热、化学甚至操纵microbes are used to turn a sugar or starch feedstock into the building blocks-polylactic acid, hydroxymethylfurfural or poly-3-hydroxybutyrate-used as the basis for the even more complex and varied chemical creations we call “plastic.” Once thermoset plastics solidify, their polymer strands form tangled bonds that cannot be undone without destroying the plastic, and they are tough and temperature-resistant. In contrast, thermoplastics can be moulded, melted, then moulded again. Transparent polylactic acid (PLA) is obtained from starch fermented into lactic acid, then polymerised, and has characteristics similar to polyethylene and polypropylene. It can be processed with equipment already used for petroleum-based plastics for a wide range of products, including computer casings, food and other packaging, even biodegradable medical implants. Thermoplastic starch(TPS), currently the most widely used bioplastic, can be derived from potatoes or from corn. Plastarch Material (PSM) is a biodegradable, thermoplastic resin, composed of starch modified to give it heat-resistant properties and combined with other biodegradable materials to improve flexiblity or give it other characteristics, and is used for food packaging and utensils, plastic bags, temporary construction tubing and stakes, foams, films, window insulation, and planters, and some are biodegradable in compost, wet soil, and water, and by some microorganisms. Scientists are now experimenting with microbes that can convert natural sugars and oils into biodegradable polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) materials.

“People do confuse biodegradability and bioplastics. Not all bio-based products are biodegradable, and not all biodegradable products are bio-based,” Liu says, explaining that biodegradability can be engineered into a bio-based or petro-based product. High temperatures are required to break most bioplastics like PLA down, usually in commercial facilities that maintain temperatures of between 40° C to 65° C. But Liu notes that using renewable feedstocks such as potato starch or dry matter to produce carbon-based polymer materials will benefit the environment, whether or not the end product is biodegradable. The production of one metric ton of bioplastic generates between 0.8 and 3.2 fewer metric tons of carbon dioxide than one metric ton of petroleum-based plastics. Thus, the development of bioplastics will help control and even reduce CO2 emissions, says Liu, “helping to meet global CO2 emissions standards set by the Kyoto Protocol, and provide for an improved environmental profile.”

Biopotato网络的研究目标包括操纵马铃薯淀粉以生产具有更强机械性能和更大防水性的生物塑料，并使其更易于使用。刘说：“在某些情况下，比玉米淀粉更容易修饰马铃薯淀粉。”他和他的团队能够发现一些重大发现。他说：“我们成功地开发了各种新型淀粉的生物塑料产品，”包括用马铃薯和豌豆纤维的TPS，使用来自不同马铃薯品种的马铃薯浆，带有PLA和纳米熔剂的TPS以及TPS结合了常见的矿物纳米粘土。“一个重大的结果是找到一种石蜡蜡，可保持生物降解性，同时与PLA作为添加剂相比降低水分敏感性。”科学家希望将其关注下一步，以取代目前的非生物基泡沫。刘说：“不幸的是，该计划于2011年3月结束。”但他希望政府将考虑续签它。

Source Courtsey krishijagran.com