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GUWAHATI
A group of researchers on the Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati (IIT-G) have developed pharmaceutical and meals products from tea factory wastes.
Tea is among the most generally consumed drinks on the globe with the world tea consumption anticipated to rise to 7.four million tonnes from the present 6.three million tonnes by 2025.
The enhance in tea consumption leads to a rise within the era of tea waste, main to non-utilisation of helpful agricultural assets.
The group led by Mihir Kumar Purkait of IITG’s Department of Chemical Engineering undertook a venture to effectively utilise the excessive lignin and low inorganic content material in tea trade wastes. The consequence was a variety of products to be used within the pharmaceutical and meals processing industries.
The vary of modern value-added products developed of their laboratory at IIT Guwahati contains low-cost antioxidant-rich dietary supplements designed to present an reasonably priced more healthy life-style possibility by harnessing inexperienced tea’s potential properties, and natural preservatives for extending the shelf lifetime of vegetable and fruit juices for up to one yr, guaranteeing long-lasting freshness.
Among the opposite products are biochar for waste discount and environmental restoration together with carbon sequestration, micro and nano-crystalline cellulose tailor-made for clever packaging, and carbon quantum dots presently being explored for detecting dangerous contaminants in water our bodies.
The analysis group comprising Somnath Chanda, Prangan Duarah, and Banhisikha Debnath other than Prof Purkait has filed a number of patents on the idea of those developments.
The findings of those research have been revealed in varied worldwide journals together with the International Journal of Biological Macromolecules, Chemosphere, and Critical Reviews in Biotechnology.
“The convenience and health benefits of catechin-based capsules open a promising avenue, offering users access to the advantages of catechins without the necessity of multiple cups of green tea. This caters to the increasing demand for antioxidant-rich supplements in our daily routines,” Professor Purkait stated.
The products from tea factory waste can have a variety of functions that embody food-grade activated carbon as a substitute to artificial meals colourant and natural-based delicate abrasive materials in toiletries corresponding to toothpaste and physique washes, he stated.
