The Commercial Uses of Lignin and Suberin
Amee Kelley
Sparace
Biology 102
5 October 2011
The Commercial Uses of Lignin and Suberin
Plants have a way of teaching humans how to better the world around them. They create and use “green” products and chemicals everyday that we as a society are just starting to learn how to use to make our lives greener. We can also use these chemicals to help keep our crops healthy and reduce our dependence on other countries. Lignin and Suberin are becoming more popular in the manufacturing world as greener materials than what we currently have. They are being used for things such as cork flooring, biofuels, and as a replacement of plastics.
Lignin is an unusual biopolymer because it lacks a defined primary structure and because it is heterogenetic. This means that lignin is made up of dissimilar substances. It is a racemic macromolecule that is cross linked. Its molecular masses can be in excess of 10,000 u. It is also relatively hydrophobic and aromatic in nature. This means that it is repelled by large amounts of water. It also means that its structure is unexpectedly stable. There are also different varieties of lignin. It varies from gymnosperms, dicotyledonous angiosperms, and monocotyledonous plants. There are three monolignol monomers that make up the three different kinds of lignin: p-hydroxyphenyl (H), guaiacyl (G), and syringal (S) respectively. Gymnosperms are mostly G with small amounts of h, angiosperms are a mixture of G and S with very little H. monocotyledons are an even mixture of all three monomers. (Boerjan W, et. al, 2003)
The term lignin was first used by de Candolle in 1819. It comes from the world lignum, which means wood. ( Sjöström, 1993) It is one of the most common organic polymer on Earth. Cellulose is the most abundant. Lignin employs about 30% of the world’s non-fossil organic carbon. (Boerjan W, et. al, 2003) It also represents at least a quarter to a third of dry mass of wood. It is most commonly known for
Sparace
Biology 102
5 October 2011
The Commercial Uses of Lignin and Suberin
Plants have a way of teaching humans how to better the world around them. They create and use “green” products and chemicals everyday that we as a society are just starting to learn how to use to make our lives greener. We can also use these chemicals to help keep our crops healthy and reduce our dependence on other countries. Lignin and Suberin are becoming more popular in the manufacturing world as greener materials than what we currently have. They are being used for things such as cork flooring, biofuels, and as a replacement of plastics.
Lignin is an unusual biopolymer because it lacks a defined primary structure and because it is heterogenetic. This means that lignin is made up of dissimilar substances. It is a racemic macromolecule that is cross linked. Its molecular masses can be in excess of 10,000 u. It is also relatively hydrophobic and aromatic in nature. This means that it is repelled by large amounts of water. It also means that its structure is unexpectedly stable. There are also different varieties of lignin. It varies from gymnosperms, dicotyledonous angiosperms, and monocotyledonous plants. There are three monolignol monomers that make up the three different kinds of lignin: p-hydroxyphenyl (H), guaiacyl (G), and syringal (S) respectively. Gymnosperms are mostly G with small amounts of h, angiosperms are a mixture of G and S with very little H. monocotyledons are an even mixture of all three monomers. (Boerjan W, et. al, 2003)
The term lignin was first used by de Candolle in 1819. It comes from the world lignum, which means wood. ( Sjöström, 1993) It is one of the most common organic polymer on Earth. Cellulose is the most abundant. Lignin employs about 30% of the world’s non-fossil organic carbon. (Boerjan W, et. al, 2003) It also represents at least a quarter to a third of dry mass of wood. It is most commonly known for