Scientists at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits), Johannesburg, South Africa, recently received an international innovation award for developing a sustainable vaccine ingredient derived from cashew nutshell waste. The Antiviral Gene Therapy Research Unit (AGTRU) and the Synthetic Organic Chemistry Unit at Wits secured one of six awards under the GIZ SAVax programme, along with a 7 million Rand (~$390,000) grant, to advance their project titled "Local large-scale production of ionizable lipids”. Such lipids are considered essential for mRNA vaccines, facilitating the delivery of genetic material into cells to elicit immune responses.
Traditionally, ionizable lipids are expensive, petroleum-based, and often under restrictive patents. The Wits team transformed cashew nutshell liquid, an abundant by-product in Africa, into hydrogenated cardanol, a cost-effective and biodegradable alternative. The approach not only utilizes waste material but also avoids competition with food resources because it doesn't rely on the edible cashew nut.
Collaborating with local industry partner Chemical Process Technologies (CPT) Pharma, the team now plans to scale up production in South Africa, aligning with the African Union's goal of producing 60 percent of the continent's vaccines locally by 2040.
Earlier this year, researchers from the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering, University of Chicago, used a similar method to the Wits development by using waste from the husks of Malva nuts to produce a hydrogel with potential woundcare applications. Steeped as a tea in China as a sore throat remedy, the residue is usually discarded, but Pritzker scientist Changzu Sun wanted to study the gel-like residue further, and stumbled upon a potentially sustainable biomedical application. The size of the husk increases 20-fold in water and produces a natural hydrogel with applications ranging from disinfection and drug delivery, to bioelectronics implantation and tissue repair.
Recent research highlights several other innovative uses of nuts and derivatives in pharmaceutical applications. For example, bioactive peptides extracted from walnuts have also demonstrated potential antiviral properties, including activity against SARS-CoV-2. A comprehensive review by an international team of researchers has also detailed the potential of upcycling various nut byproducts – from almond skins and peanut shells to pistachio hulls – into pharmaceutical ingredients. The review article “Bioactive Peptides from Nuts” looks at nut-derived peptides and their emerging roles in health, food, and pharmaceutical applications. Nuts such as pine nuts, walnuts, cashews, pistachios, hazelnuts, and pecans are rich in proteins, which can be hydrolyzed enzymatically to yield bioactive peptides. Research has shown that peptides from nuts, especially low molecular weight peptides, can potentially scavenge free radicals and modulate biochemical pathways.
Perhaps future directions in nut research could include optimizing peptide extraction, improving stability through nanodelivery systems, and generating disease-specific peptides via targeted enzymatic hydrolysis. In a nutshell, nut-derived bioactive peptides are promising candidates for use as functional ingredients.
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