Vera Novy

My research project concerns the selective recovery of plant-based polyesters from lignocellulosic biomass. Plant-based polyesters, such as cutin and suberin, contain interesting functionalities that could be exploited to produce sustainable chemicals and materials. They are found in the skin of plants, such as fruit peels or tree barks, which are abundantly available and currently underutilized biomass sources. The aim of this project is to develop a method based on differential pretreatment methods and the use of specialized enzymes to selectively recover these plant-based polyesters from tree barks, without harming their functionality and, thus, their potential for valorization.