Research team creates potential food and packaging source from non-food plants

A team of Virginia Tech researchers has succeeded in transforming cellulose into starch, a process that has the potential to provide a previously untapped nutrient source from plants not traditionally thought of as food crops. Besides serving as a food source, the starch can be used in the manufacture of edible, clear films for biodegradable food packaging. It can even serve as a high-density hydrogen storage carrier that could solve problems related to hydrogen storage and distribution. The research was published this week in the Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (News Release Virginia Tech, 16 April 2013).