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Singapore scientists turn durian husks into bandages

A durian’s tender, yellow flesh inside its thorny inexperienced husk seen at a store in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Mohd Rasfan | AFP | Getty Pictures

Some find it irresistible, whereas others detest it.

Durians are banned on all public transportation in Singapore attributable to their scent — which some have likened to sewage or smelly socks. Some accommodations in Southeast Asia even cease their company from bringing the fruit into the rooms.

But some durian-lovers are prepared to pay high greenback for the “king of the fruit” — with somebody reportedly parting with a whopping $48,000 for one in 2019.

However there could also be a brand new purpose to understand the prickly fruit.

Scientists in Singapore are utilizing durian husks to create antibacterial bandages they are saying can heal post-surgery wounds.

Repurposed rinds

The expertise — developed by a group of researchers at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological College (NTU) — makes use of an affordable process to extract cellulose from the fruit’s thick, green husks. The cellulose is combined with glycerol to create a tender, silicone-like gel, which will be lower to supply plasters, in accordance with the college.

So long as Singaporeans preserve consuming durians, we will preserve making these bandages.

William Chen

Researcher at Nanyang Technological College

Twitter erupted with questions, and plenty of centered on one factor: the fruit’s pungent scent.

Some questioned if the durian’s robust scent can be detected on the bandages, or if wearers will be barred from public buses.

Chen insisted the bandages are odorless.

Others joked about it, with one saying — tongue-in-cheek — that it wasn’t surprising that durian plasters can kill bacteria.

Regardless of the reactions, researchers say the innovation may assist clear up a critical environmental drawback: meals waste.

“It ties in with our drive in direction of growing improvements to cut back meals waste as an entire,” mentioned William Chen, the director of NTU’s Meals Science and Expertise Program and lead scientist behind the innovation.

Professor William Chen and a member of his group experiment on durian husks.

NTU Singapore

At the least one durian vendor is worked up concerning the prospects.

“That invention … is a implausible strategy to recycle the husk,” James Wong, who sells durians in Singapore, informed CNBC. He mentioned durian peels are at the moment thrown away and he pays waste disposal corporations to clear them. “To have the ability to promote the husk to get cash is manner higher.”

80% of the fruit’s weight

Meals in Singapore is comparatively low-cost because it’s extremely sponsored by the federal government, Chen informed CNBC.

“The draw back of this inexpensive and plentiful meals is that we do not actually worth the meals,” he mentioned.

Scientists at Nanyang Technological College developed a hydrogel bandage fabricated from upcycled durian husks.

NTU Singapore

To mitigate the issue of meals waste, Chen determined to experiment with durian husks, a cloth that is usually thrown away after the tender, yellow flesh of the fruit is consumed. The husk can account for about 80% of the fruit’s weight.

Durians have been the selection of fruit for a number of causes, the researcher mentioned.

Giant fruits like durians give scientists the required quantity to work with. In addition they have excessive fiber content material, which makes them appropriate for the method.

The provision of durians additionally performed an element, Chen mentioned.

“Singapore consumes 12 million durians a 12 months,” he mentioned. “So long as Singaporeans preserve consuming durians, we will preserve making these bandages.”

Advantages and downsides

In response to Chen, bandages constituted of durian husks are each environmentally and medically useful. In contrast to present plasters, the brand new bandages include hydrogels, which may shield wounds and preserve them moist.

Some medical specialists are onboard with the innovation too.

“The hydrogel bandages produced from durian husk carried out equivalently properly to these out there,” mentioned Affiliate Professor Andrew Tan, a metabolic issues knowledgeable at NTU’s medical faculty, who isn’t a part of the bandage challenge.

The hydrogel supplies moisture which helps take away contaminated tissue and encourages therapeutic, he mentioned, including that “hydrogels may cool the wound which is useful in assuaging ache.”

Individuals wait in line to purchase durians in Singapore on June 24, 2021.

Suhaimi Abdullah | NurPhoto | Getty Pictures

“I’ve at all times believed that nature has the solutions to every little thing,” mentioned Priyadarshani Kamat, a Singapore-based homeopath. “Prior to now, I’ve seen how bandages fabricated from potato peels assist burn victims get better their pores and skin rapidly, and this [durian] hydrogel is just like that.”

Durian bandages aren’t primed to exchange all bandages — not but anyway. Tan identified they are not appropriate for heavy wounds, as they’re principally composed of water.

They don’t seem to be 100% biodegradable both. Whereas the group has managed to exchange the tender, cushioned layer with the durian hydrogel, the outer adhesive half remains to be fabricated from plastic, mentioned Chen.

Nonetheless, Chen and his group hope to convey the durian husk bandages to market throughout the subsequent two years.

It makes me really feel barely higher about binging on durians as a result of I do know the husks can be utilized for a superb trigger.

Xin Yi Lin

Singaporean pupil

“I wish to flip analysis into one thing helpful to society,” Chen informed CNBC.

He added that such improvements shouldn’t change the necessity to generate much less waste. “We do not need these improvements to fire-fight with rising waste — the concept is to cut back it at its supply,” he mentioned.

After listening to about Chen’s analysis, one durian-lover felt higher about consuming the fruit.

“I do know the durian husks, particularly throughout durian season, contribute to a variety of waste,” mentioned Singaporean pupil Xin Yi Lin, who’s a self-proclaimed durian-fanatic. “It makes me really feel barely higher about binging on durians as a result of I do know the husks can be utilized for a superb trigger.”



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