Nuts have a long Christmas tradition. Walnuts and hazelnuts, either ground up or whole, are part of every Christmas bakery. The nuts are often difficult to crack, but delicious and decorative. Hence, long before the glittering baubles, nuts and apples adorned the Christmas tree. Today, they are valued for their many healthy nutrients and long shelf life and are mostly processed into food. However, researchers are convinced that their potential for biobased products is even greater.

Exploring the bio-potential of walnuts

As part of the EU "AlpBioEco" project, the focus of the current study is on walnuts as a biobased feedstock. Under the direction of Christian Gerhards, researchers and students from the Albstadt-Sigmaringen University of Applied Sciences in Baden-Württemberg and the Bund für Umwelt und Naturschutz Deutschland (BUND)-Regionalverband Bodensee-Oberschwaben are investigating to what extent walnuts can be used to produce new products for the bioeconomy.

Analysing the ingredients of nut shells and leaves

The team not only takes a closer look at the fruit itself, but also at the leaves of the walnut tree and the hard fruit peels. Their aim is to analyse these ingredients and develop new applications for food and cosmetics. But other applications are also possible: "Let's wait and see: Maybe in the near future we will produce biological crop protection products from walnut leaves, packaging materials from nut shells or flavourings from green nuts," says project manager Gerhards.

Apples and herbs also in our sights

The project, which started in April 2018 and will take at least three years, involves twelve other partners in addition to the university. It is co-financed by the EU via the "Interreg Alpine Space Programme". In addition to walnuts, the project also investigates the bioeconomy potential of apples and herbs.

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