It is chemist Laura Jansen from the Radboud University succeeded in making a well-functioning soap from sugar beet pulp – a residual product of sugar beet. This breakthrough offers a sustainable alternative to the usual soaps. Jansen received his doctorate on 8 November for this innovative research.
Sugar beet pulp is a residual product that is created after sucrose has been extracted from sugar beets, for example for the production of sweets. 'Sugar beet pulp is usually used as animal feed, but since this pulp contains other interesting sugar molecules, I wanted to see if we could get more out of the pulp', says Jansen.
Soluble in water and oil
Soap works according to a well-known principle: the molecule consists of two parts, one of which dissolves in water and the other in oil. This allows dirt that dissolves in oil to be washed away with water. This principle applies to all soaps, from hand soap to detergent.
Jansen explains: 'Sugars dissolve in water – think of sugar in your tea – but they do not dissolve in oil. That is why I modified the sugar molecules from the pulp with green chemistry, so that they dissolve in both water and oil. In fact, I attached a kind of tail to it.' With this modification, Jansen created a new molecule, for which she obtained a patent together with innovation company Cosun RD&I. Laboratory tests showed that the new soap works effectively: 'The piece of cloth that we washed became clean with this 'soap'.'
Upcycling for sustainability
In this way, sugar beet pulp is upcycled into a sustainable soap. 'This sugar molecule from biomass is a good green alternative. Moreover, it is sulphate-free and mild for the skin', according to Jansen.
The next step in the research is to further map the process from pulp to end product, so that companies can start using this new basis for soap. 'First, we have to see whether this molecule can be produced on a larger scale. So far, it works very well in the lab,' Jansen concludes.
