Researchers from the Institute of Industrial Science at The University of Tokyo have discovered a way to develop everlasting, strong, and still edible – construction materials from food.
Crushed cabbage leaves, seaweed, and banana peels may not be mouth-watering like gingerbread and pastries, and other junk foods. But can be part of the recipe for durable building products even stronger than cement.
Yuya Sakai, a sustainable construction materials specialist and senior author of an upcoming study on the materials, at the University of Tokyo, said on Tuesday that;
“Our goal was to use seaweed and common food scraps for developing construction materials that were at least as strong as concrete. But since we were using edible food waste, we were also interested in knowing whether the recycling process would affect the flavor of original materials or not.”
Converting non-decomposable materials into decomposable materials is one of the modern world’s important needs.
Techniques used by Scientist to convert Food Scraps into Construction Materials
As reported by Cnet, the researchers used the heat-pressing technique which is generally used to squeeze wood power into construction materials. But in place of wood powder, they vacuum-dried and then pulverized a variety of food waste items which includes onion and fruit peels, as well as cabbage.
The team further says that “The processing technique involves mixing food powder with water and seasonings. After that, press the mixture into a mold at a high temperature.” All resulting products passed the team’s test except the pumpkin peel.
After that researchers also figured out a solution for the pumpkin exception. Kota Machida, a member of the project says, “We also figured out that Chinese cabbage leaves have the capability of producing material three times stronger than concrete. Thus it can be further mixed with weaker pumpkin-based material to provide effective reinforcement “.
Molded materials remained edible, though researchers did not say whether materials are hard to chew or not. The taste of the materials did not change when exposed to air, in the period of four months. Also, other issues with rot or insects were not observed.
Waste that is produced when construction materials do not remain for use, affects nature badly. As many in the world (including companies, peoples) dump that waste into the sea resulting in an imbalance in the life of sea animals. Such discoveries not only make human life easier but also benefit nature, thus many techniques in different fields are still required.
The development of potentially edible materials is still in an early stage, probably someday you can build a building and have breakfast on it when it is no longer needed. It would add a new change in the modern world.