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Beer byproduct gives researcher something sweet to chew on |
| Theallineed/NC&T/UA |
Dr. David Bressler is experimenting with hemicellulose, a component found in distiller's grains such as wheat and barley. By breaking it down into individual sugars and fermenting those sugars, xylitol - already on the market as a chemically produced artificial sweetener - could be made. Creating it from a natural source like grain would be more beneficial than the current manufacturing method, which is primarily done in China through a chemical process that is far less friendly to the environment.
"There is a lot of chemical waste byproduct," said Bressler, a professor of agricultural, food and nutritional science at the U of A, who's working with researchers from the university's Department of Chemical Engineering and the Department of Agricultural Food and Nutritional Science.
Currently, the only use that's been found for distiller's grains (the plant fibre residue from which hemicellulose is obtained) produced by the breweries and refineries after ethanol production, is animal feed.
"It's a decent animal feed, but there is almost no value of return to the brewing and ethanol production industries. Generally, the cost of transportation is all they get out of it," Bressler said. In addition, the hemicellulose, which doesn't add any extra nutrients to the feed, isn't being used to its full capacity, even though it accounts for up to 20 per cent of the distiller's grains.
 | | Dr. David Bressler at work in the lab. (Photo: University of Alberta ) |
Converted into xylitol, which is prized for its cooling flavour in products like chewing gum, hemicellulose would get a second, more beneficial life. "It's a high-value product at the end of the day. You're taking something that is worth almost nothing and producing something that's worth a lot."
In their labs, Bressler and his research colleagues are working with lactic acid bacteria to change the sugar in hemicellulose to xylitol. Within three to five years, he expects to have a successful food additive that can be put into everything from diet drinks to candy bars.
A larger program, expanding on this area of research, is being constructed as part of the Institute for Food and Agricultural Sciences, Alberta (IFASA), in which the research partnership will grow to include Alberta Agriculture, Food and Rural Development and the Alberta Research Council.
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