Grapevines could offer a breakthrough alternative to plastic packaging

What was once pruned and burned in vineyards could soon wrap your groceries – then vanish without a trace. Scientists have developed a biodegradable film from grapevine prunings that mimics plastic but breaks down in just over two weeks.

The breakthrough comes from South Dakota State University (SDSU), led by Associate Professor Srinivas Janaswamy, in collaboration with grapevine expert Anne Fennell.

The latest results show that films cast from cellulose extracted out of grapevine canes are transparent, tough, and fast to biodegrade. The team harvested canes from SDSU’s research vineyard and followed a protocol to turn them into packaging-grade films.

The plastic problem

Most packaging is used once and tossed, and it is made from petroleum. It lingers in landfills and oceans for centuries. Only a sliver is recycled. Micro- and nanoplastics break off and spread.

People and wildlife inhale and ingest them, and they have recently turned up everywhere, including inside the human body. The long-term health effects are still unclear. The “Great Pacific Garbage Patch” is the emblem of that crisis.

Perhaps the worst offender in daily life is the thin retail bag. It is light, cheap, and convenient. It is also hard to recycle and easy to litter. Replacing that bag with a material that behaves like plastic but rapidly decomposes could change the waste stream.

The cellulose packaging vision

Janaswamy’s lab targets that problem using agricultural byproducts. He has extracted cellulose from avocado peels, soy hulls, alfalfa, switchgrass, spent coffee grounds, corncobs, and banana peels.

The recovered polymer is then used for films that mimic familiar wraps and liners. “By extracting cellulose from agricultural products, value-added products can be created,” Janaswamy said.

Grapevines transformed into packaging

The grapevine idea began after a campus talk. Fennell, a professor of agronomy, horticulture, and plant science, knew canes are cellulose-rich and produced in bulk each winter. However, most are mulched, composted, or burned.

“Every year we prune the majority of the yearly biomass off the vine. The pruned canes are either mowed over, composted and reapplied to the soil, or burned in some areas,” Fennell said. “My thought was, why not use this for value-added films?”

“Several of the materials that Janaswamy previously used had a high water content. In contrast, the winter pruning yields a cellulose-dense material with low water content, making it an abundant and ideal material to work with.”

The team dried and milled the canes. Afterwards, they extracted a cotton-like cellulose residue, solubilized it, and cast it onto glass plates to form thin, uniform sheets. The result looked like clear packaging film.

Built strong, breaks down fast

Tests showed a standout mix of traits. The grapevine films were transparent, which matters on store shelves.

“High transmittance in packaging films enhances product visibility, making them more attractive to consumers and facilitating easy quality inspection without the need for unsealing,” Janaswamy said. “These films demonstrate outstanding potential for food packaging applications.”

They were strong, too. In tensile tests, they outperformed common plastic bags. Moreover, in soil, the films biodegraded within 17 days and left no harmful residue.

That is the kind of decay window that makes sense for single-use packaging. It gives an item enough life to do its job, then it returns to the earth.

Cellulose is the most abundant organic polymer on the planet. It is the load-bearing material in plant cell walls, reinforced by hydrogen bonds in chains of glucose.

Since cotton is mostly cellulose and wood is rich in it, such feedstock is common, renewable, and often wasted. Using byproducts adds value without claiming more land or water.

Packaging designed to biodegrade

The films bring Janaswamy closer to a retail bag that will not persist in the environment. They also point to a flexible platform.

By choosing different plant sources, the lab can tune clarity, strength, and handling. Grapevine canes – dry, cellulose-dense, and plentiful – hit a sweet spot for performance and processing.

“Using underutilized grapevine prunings as a cellulose source for packaging films enhances waste management in the field and addresses the global issue of plastic pollution,” Janaswamy explained.

“Developing eco-friendly films from grapevine cellulose represents a practical approach to sustainability, helping to conserve the environment and its resources and contributing to the circular bioeconomy.”

Next steps for grapevine packaging

Scaling up will require a steady feedstock, efficient extraction, and film lines that meet food-contact standards. Retailers will want consistency, while consumers will want price parity and a familiar feel. Luckily, the early data is encouraging.

Since packaging still leans on fossil inputs, recycling rates remain low, and microplastic concerns are growing, the need for alternatives is high.

Packaging film made from grapevines that vanishes in 17 days is not a cure-all, but it is a concrete step toward cleaner shelves, cleaner bins, and cleaner oceans.

The study is published in the journal Sustainable Food Technology.

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