{"id":591,"date":"2024-11-15T10:15:53","date_gmt":"2024-11-15T08:15:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.slts.fi\/doctoral-thesis-award\/vaitoskirjapalkinto-2020\/"},"modified":"2024-11-22T14:45:48","modified_gmt":"2024-11-22T12:45:48","slug":"doctoral-thesis-award-2020","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.slts.fi\/en\/doctoral-thesis-award\/doctoral-thesis-award-2020\/","title":{"rendered":"Doctoral thesis award 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"

Wood is increasingly used in foodstuffs and cosmetics \u2013 Wood hemicelluloses have huge potential, says researcher Mamata Bhattarai<\/h2>\n

The\u00a0<\/em>Doctoral Thesis Award<\/a>\u00a0was handed to\u00a0Mamata Bhattarai<\/strong>\u00a0in a solemn occasion on September 2nd. The Award was presented by the SLTS CEO\u00a0Roy Siljam\u00e4ki<\/strong>\u00a0and the Chair of the Board of Directors\u00a0Pekka A. Nurmi<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

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About one fourth of wood is made of hemicelluloses, which is expected to make a breakthrough in the food, packaging and pharmaceutical industries as stabilizers. Also called \u2019spruce gum\u2019, wood hemicelluloses is derived from side streams of pulp manufacturing. To obtain a homogeneous emulsion when mixing oil and water, a stabilizer is needed. Some of them are familiar to us from the product descriptions of foodstuffs and cosmetics: gum arabic, guar gum, pectin sand locust bean (or carob) gum, for example. These conventional additives could, however, be replaced by wood hemicelluloses, which has been intensively studied in Finland in recent years.<\/p>\n

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\u2019One fourth of spruce wood consists of hemicellulose, or spruce gum, but we still need plenty of research to be able to utilize it to the extent we use lignin, not to mention pulp,\u2019 says Mamata Bhattarai, currently working at Aalto University as a postdoctoral researcher. Photo: Anna Kauppi<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2019Wood hemicelluloses have huge potential<\/em>,\u2019 says researcher\u00a0Mamata Bhattarai<\/strong>\u00a0from the Aalto University.<\/p>\n

\u2019Wood hemicelluloses can be used to replace both vegetable and animal-derived stabilizers in foodstuffs, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. Its potential is also being explored for the manufacturing of bio-based packaging films and thermal storage materials<\/em>\u00a0.\u2019<\/p>\n

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Spruce gum separated from spruce can be used as stabilizer in food and cosmetic products. To the right you can see unpurified spruce gum extracted by hot water, in the middle spruce gum taken from industrial side flows and to the left, purified spruce gum.Photo: Mamata Bhattarai<\/em><\/p>\n

Spruce gum stabilizes yoghurt<\/h3>\n

Bhattarai is particularly interested in using wood hemicelluloses in emulsions in various foods, such as yoghurt or salad dressings. Here, stabilizers provide the desired consistence and mouthfeel.<\/p>\n

In her doctoral thesis, Bhattarai studied spruce hemicelluloses, in other words, galactoglucomannans, and the properties of spruce gums extracted by different methods.<\/p>\n

She found that the solubility of spruce gum and its stabilizing property in emulsions were greatly affected by how it had been extracted from wood. To take an example, pure spruce gum derived from modified pressurized hot-water extraction had the highest solubility in water, while spruce gum mixed with lignins worked better as stabilizer.<\/p>\n

\u2019I believe that these findings will provide a basis for many further studies. We still need plenty of information on the effect of different extraction methods on the properties of hemicellulose and thus its potential use as raw material.\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n

Awarded thesis promotes circular bioeconomy<\/h3>\n

Bhattarai defended the doctoral dissertation in the Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry of the University of Helsinki in November of 2020. Yesterday, her doctoral thesis\u00a0Associative behavior of spruce galactoglucomannans in aqueous solutions and emulsions<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0was awarded\u00a0by the Finnish Natural Resources Research Foundation as the best doctoral thesis of the year<\/a><\/strong>. The purpose of the award is to encourage young researchers to undertake work that promotes the sustainable use of natural resources and has commercial potential.<\/p>\n

The foundation states that Bhattarai \u2019s research on the extraction and use of galactoglucomannan reveals a considerable industrial potential in Finland\u2019s forest-based circular bioeconomy.<\/p>\n

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\nMamata Bhattarai says that Finland provides excellent opportunities for researchers and research. \u2019I hope I\u2019ll still be working in Finnish university\u00a0 in ten years\u2019 time<\/em>.\u2019 Photo: Anna Kauppi<\/p>\n

Bhattarai says that she got interested in wood hemicelluloses soon after starting her research assistant position in the group of Associate Professor\u00a0Kirsi Mikkonen<\/strong>\u00a0at the University of Helsinki in 2015.<\/p>\n

Mikkonen has studied hemicellulose for years and\u00a0has long believed in the extensive potential of spruce gum<\/a>.<\/p>\n

One fourth of wood consists of hemicelluloses<\/h3>\n

It is believed that the task of hemicelluloses in wood is to make it more flexible. Without it, trees would not bend in the wind.<\/p>\n

Roughly, wood consists of just one fourth of hemicellulose, one third of lignin and over one third of cellulose. The structure of hemicellulose is a long and complicated chain of monosaccharides (sugars).<\/p>\n

But how is it that, unlike cellulose and lignin, hemicellulose has not been utilized so far? One reason, according to Bhattarai, is that cellulose is the focus of industries to prepare paper and paper boards, and because hemicellulose research on applications is still in its infancy.<\/p>\n

Separating hemicellulose from lignin is particularly difficult. \u2019Another thing to study is whether the two could be used as raw material in combination<\/em>,\u2019 notes Bhattarai.<\/p>\n

\u2019Industry only began to utilize the potential of wood components other than cellulose as raw material a few years ago. By now the number of bioproduct mills are declining due to less demand of paper, and with new research results, they are sure to interest themselves in also using hemicellulose<\/em>.\u2019<\/p>\n