By Saiful Bahri Kamaruddin
Pix Shahiddan Saidi

BANGI, 4 April 2016 – Malaysia should step up the use of wastes derived from the forestry, agriculture and plantation sectors for the production of alternative sources of food and polymers, says a researcher of The National University of Malaysia (UKM), Prof Dr Sarani Zakaria.

She said the biomass known as Lignocellulose can meet the demands of the food, health, textiles and other industries.

She reckoned that Malaysia produces over 100 million tons of lignocellulose a year in which 94% is from of the oil palm sector, 4% from the timber industry and 1% from rice straw. This is an invaluable source of biomass for the economy.

“Our research here at UKM have yielded food products such as ice cream, bread and cake preparations, emulsifiers for making biscuits and candy preparations,” the head researcher explained at her public lecture titled The Seven Wonders Of Lignocellulose, here today.

Among the other products successfully made by her research group from lignocellulose at the Faculty of Science and Technology were edible containers, pulp, paper, magnetic paper and polyurethane (a type of plastic).

Lignocellulose can be obtained mainly from biomass derived from wood and plants, such as fruit fibre, fruit bunches, rice straw, bagasse, stems and leaves.

 It is known as lignocellulose because its main chemical component is cellulose and lignin in addition to some other chemical components such as hemicellulose.

Wood waste from the construction industry, sawdust and wood residues from sawmills; garbage such as boxes, paper, newspapers, office stationery, magazines and old books are sources of lignocellulose that are very useful.

She expressed confidence that the use of lignocellulosic biomass will reduce forest logging exploration and problems of waste disposal by municipal councils.

Prof Sarani is an expert in the field of bioresources-based materials, especially from plant lignocellulosic material.