From food waste to medical materials

Look in the fridges and bins: The band-aid that we use after our booster shots could be made from our favourite fruit's spiky husk, while the usually discarded stems of our pasta herbs could be fermented into sanitiser that is softer on our hands, wrote Prof William Chen in an op-ed piece. The Michael Fam Chair Professor at the NTU, who is also director of the Singapore Agri-Food Innovation Lab and director of NTU's FST Programme, elaborated on how a fundamental yet under-appreciated overlap exists between food science and medicine. He gave examples of side-streams, or the by-products of food production, that could be reinjected into the medical industry, such as the leftover pulp from sugarcane and soya beans, herbs in our spice drawer, coffee grounds, and brewers' spent grain - the leftover material from making beer or Milo powder.

“The advent of foodtech for medical and clinical purposes could not have surfaced at a more opportune time. The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has exposed two aspects of medical materials: the increased waste of medical supply (gloves) and the improved functionality of protective materials (masks),” he added.