A biomaterial used as a matrix for bone regeneration and made by a porous block of 1 cm height which was obtained from the beer bagasse treatment. Angeles Martin Luengo, Malcolm Yates and Eduardo Saezl (CMM-CSIC and ICP-CSIC)
Orthopedic implants, coatings, and bone grafts are manufactured from animal-derived components or from advanced man-made materials that are not easy to manufacture. Interestingly, spent grain (bagasse), that is the residue of beer brewing, contains calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, and silicon, the main ingredients of bone tissue. A team of scientists from the Centre for Biomedical Technology of Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM), the Institute of Materials Science and the Institute of Catalysis and Petrochemistry of Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Mahou, and Createch Co., have developed a biomaterial made from spent grain that promotes cell culture growth.
The new material features interconnected pores between 50 and 500 micron in width, which can provide space for vessels to grow into. The research, published in RSC Advances, showed that the new material is biocompatible and shows great promise for use in orthopedic applications.
Mouse osteoblasts growing over 3D matrixes developed from food industry waste. Milagros Ramos and Ana Martinez Serrano (CTB-UPM)
A first approach using cell cultures has established the biocompatibility of the materials by analyzing the cell viability of cultured osteoblasts in the presence of powder materials components. Then, after compacting and sintering the materials that became 3D solid matrixes, the ability of bone-like cells to adhere to these materials were analyzed. Also, researchers analyzed how these materials proliferate and distinguish from the mature bone cells which are able to express typical markers of bone phenotype such as alkaline phosphatase and to conduct the collagen synthesis and mineralization of the extracellular matrix.
Study in RSC Advances: Preparation, characterization and in vitro osteoblast growth of waste-derived biomaterials…
Press release: Beer brewing waste could help bone regeneration…