Suberin isolation : A better way to valorize potato peels

The present study describes a cost-effective method to enzymatically isolate suberin from potato peels. Over the
2 800 000 tons of potatoes harvested annually in Belgium, two-thirds enters into the food industry[1]. Potato
peels are the most abundant byproducts of the processing and accounts for 10 to 15% of the processed potatoes
amount[1]. Due to its content in water, starch and protein, this byproduct has been historically used in animal
feed[1]. This use only adds a limited commercial value and exploitation of suberin and suberin-associated waxes,
which are major components of potato peels[2], has so far been limited. Suberin is a waxy polymer known to be
an important part in cork[3] and that is expected to have a wide variety of applications such as paints, inks[4],
glues, biosourced materials[3],[4], rubbers and even in cosmetics. Today, suberin applications are mainly limited
by the resilience of cork that makes suberin extraction too expensive and polluting to be commercially viable. With
the proposed method only three days were required to isolate the suberin-rich fraction from potato peels by using
a cocktail of cellulase and pectinase. After filtration, microscopic observation of the suberin-riche fraction after
staining with Sudan red 7B shown that only the suberized portions of the cell matrix were left undigested. The
isolated suberin can then be used as a raw material or be depolymerized to conform to a specifics application.
This method represents a reliable, easy and cost-effective way to isolate suberin for potential commercial and
industrial applications.