Discarded cucumber peels may soon find their way back to your kitchen in the form of eco-friendly food packaging developed by researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kharagpur.
Cucumber peels have greater cellulose content (18.22%) than other peel waste. The research showed that cellulose nano crystals derived from cucumber peels possess modifiable properties due to the presence of abundant hydroxyl groups, which resulted in better biodegradability and biocompatibility.
In India, cucumber finds wide use in salads, pickles, and also in the beverage industry, leading to a large volume of peel bio-waste. This non toxic, biodegradable and biocompatible product has no adverse effects on health and environment and hence could have a huge market potential by rendering management of organic waste with high cellulose content profitable.
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