Lignin chemistry and selected applications (Overview paper)
Internal work for ILI Umbrella 2010
Roger Malherbe, Alfred Abächerli
Potential life science applications for lignin are in agriculture (nutrition and health care for animals and plants), human food, cosmetics, human health care (preventive, like nutraceuticals, and curative applications). Interaction of lignin with living cells or microorganisms is an important factor in many polymer applications ranging from protective antimicrobial materials to biomedical devices. Many life science related applications are already common for molecules of the lignin type that are naturally used by or administrated to plants, animals and human beings.
All the possible technical functionalities of lignin can be of importance also in this field: the most important are emulsification, anti-oxidant, UV-scavenging and anti-microbial. Additional effects are appearing only in living organisms: a whole family of characteristics connected to the anti-oxidant function (anti-tumour, anti-mutagenic, anti-agening), the specific characteristics deriving from administration through digestive systems: absorbtion and adsorption of toxins, slow release of drugs and other active substances, digestion regulation (e.g. pro-biotics and pre-biotics), increased immuno-resistance, increased well being.
An overview on various life science applications and references can be found under Malherbe, p.7-9.
Summaries, Overviews and Priority Papers
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- Overviews
- Bio-Stabilisation
- Animal & Human
- Antioxidant
- Plants
- Cosmetics
- Enzymes
- Various
