The GREASE project is looking for methods to further refine wood-based fatty acids for industrial use. Fatty acids can be isolated from forest industry side streams, i.e. waste generated in the paper and timber industries.
GREASE, coordinated by VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, is part of the EU's Seventh Framework Programme's WoodWisdom-Net+ programme. The programme aims to find solutions for the forest industry using sustainable development methods and in a competitive manner. In Europe, the aim is to reduce dependence on oil, so new bio-based raw materials for industrial use are being developed.
The forest industry generates a lot of bark waste. Birch sap contains a lot of suberin, which contains fatty acids with a unique chemical structure. Isolating fatty acids from suberin is challenging, but VTT has developed an environmentally friendly method for it. Another source of fatty acids is tall oil, which is also a by-product of sulphate pulp mills.
Recycled polyesters, polyamides and polyurethanes can be used, for example, in insulation for the construction industry, fiber materials and as raw materials for the packaging industry, as well as in various types of coatings, adhesives and ink components. At present, these products are still mostly oil-based. The industry's requirement for new bio-based production is of course that the price and quality of the products are at least at the current level.
Medicine from pine oil
The Faculty of Pharmacy at the University of Helsinki aims to develop medical products from forest industry side streams in the GREASE project.
Pinolenic acid in tall oil has interesting properties and can serve as a starting material for various natural product derivatives.
Pinolenic acid is only found in tall oil at a concentration of 6–7 percent, and for medical applications, the substance would be needed in a fairly pure form. Researcher Gustav Boije of Gennäs developed methods for the GREASE project to purify pinolenic acid from tall oil and make it into various types of chemical derivatives. Boije af Gennäs succeeded in purifying pinolenic acid to a 70% mixture, making it possible to make new derivatives for testing biological activity.
The prepared pinolenic acid derivatives are lactones that resemble bacterial signaling molecules in structure.
"There is a need for new antimicrobial agents because resistance to many current antibiotics has increased. Our goal is to find compounds that have activity at least at the level of current antibiotics," says the associate professor. Father Tammela.
The modified bacterial messenger molecules could potentially act as antimicrobials, as they could disrupt the communication between bacteria. This would then activate the human immune system earlier and nip the infection in the bud. The lactone molecules from tall oil could therefore be used to trick the microbial population.
Text: Katri Pajusola
The full article can be read in the print issue of Paperi ja Puu magazine, 3/2013.
