By Katie Brady and Claudia Lutz
Phosphorus is an essential nutrient for plants and managing its availability is critical for growing crops to maintain the global food supply. In an effort to move toward a more sustainable bioeconomy, researchers from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and collaborators have developed a new method to recycle phosphorus from the biorefinery waste stream.
The study, published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology, describes the team's development of a process that can efficiently convert phytate—a phosphorus source that can't be absorbed or used by plants—to bioavailable phosphate. Their approach relied on the successful use of a biocatalyst, a biological substance that speeds up a specific type of chemical reaction. The work was supported by the US Department of Agriculture.
"This study addresses a technology gap in recycling phosphorus from the biorefinery waste stream," said Na Wei, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The research was a collaboration between laboratories including Founder Professor of Agricultural and Biological Engineering Vijay Singh, Professor of Food Microbiology Yong-Su Jin, and Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering Ludmilla Aristilde from Northwestern University.
Historically, society has relied on nonrenewable sources of many materials, including fuels and fertilizers. Current phosphorus supplies, for example, mainly come from mining phosphate rock using a challenging and energy-intensive process that negatively impacts the environment. More recent innovations in manufacturing have explored the potential of biorefineries, facilities that convert biomass like corn or wood into fuel, animal and plant nutrients, or other useful products.
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