A research team at the School of Food and Nutritional Sciences in UCC has cracked the code to a form of non-sticky chewing gum. Led by Professor Elke Arendt, the scientists developed a biodegradable form of chewing gum that could potentially eliminate all of the cleaning costs and problems associated with chewing gum.
Traditional chewing gum is composed of a number of ingredients, but it’s the synthetic rubbers in it that make it sticky, stretchy and highly resistant to cleaning. This can make it a nightmare for our local councils and street cleaners, as well as our shoes.
Hundreds of thousands of euros are spent every year trying remove chewing gum from our streets but this could be a thing of the past thanks to the work of Professor Arendt and her team, who were able to modify cereal proteins for use as the primary ingredient in chewing gum. The result is a biodegradable and less sticky form of gum that retains the same texture and level of elasticity as regular chewing gum.
Visit the UCC School of Food and Nutritional Sciences website.
