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Sugarcane's New Promises |
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By Patricia Grogg*
Cuban
scientists are saying that sugarcane is a raw material with as much
potential as petroleum. And they are developing medications, preservatives,
resins and plastics from this sweet crop.
HAVANA - Cuba is stepping up efforts to make
use of sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum) derivatives for animal
and human medications at a time when the island's sugar industry
is undergoing restructuring due to the low sugar prices on the international
market.
The conversion policy for this sector, launched two years ago, includes
a push for utilization of sugarcane derivatives in the food, chemical,
pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries.
Local experts are unanimous in touting ''alternative'' uses for
sugarcane, to make sweets and alcohol, animal feed, resins, preservatives,
plastics and manufactured products like paper or furniture.
''In these times of production and commercialization (of sugar)
it is not enough to produce with high quality and low costs. It
is essential to head towards broad diversification,'' Luis Gálvez,
director of the Havana-based ICIDCA, the Cuban sugarcane research
institute, told Tierramérica.
Founded more than 40 years ago, ICIDCA is at the forefront of Cuban
technological endeavors to take full advantage of this crop, one
that is deeply linked with the island's history and culture.
ICIDCA research covers agriculture, animal feed and human food,
as well as environmental, biotech and pharmacological studies.
Among the novelties in the pharmaceutical line are extracts of cane
wax and organic acids.
''In sugarcane derivatives there is ongoing potential in the technological
knowledge achieved by Cuba,'' said Gálvez, adding that through chemical
and biotechnology, sugarcane can generate as wide a variety of products
as petrochemicals produce.
Of the surprising variety of sugarcane derivatives, the product
that achieved perhaps the greatest international popularity in the
late 20th century was policosanol, or PPG, discovered and developed
in Cuban laboratories.
PPG is applauded as a regulator of the metabolism for fats, including
cholesterol, and as a food supplement for people in situations of
great physical exertion.
This ''natural'' medication does not have harmful side effects and
is thought to enhance sexual function. The product has customers
in Europe and Australia, among other points of the globe, and is
sought by many of the tourists visiting this socialist-run island.
The Dalmer labs of Havana, where PPG is produced, have spent years
searching for other natural derivatives of Cuban plants, and particularly
of sugarcane.
Just a few weeks ago, Cuban experts announced a new family of antibiotics
for treating animals. These drugs were produced from sugarcane by
the Chemical Bioactives Center at the Central University of Las
Villas, in Santa Clara, 300 km east of the capital.
The research center uses furfural, from sugarcane waste, to produce
what is known as G-1, a strong adversary against bacteria and fungus
that were resistant to previously known antibiotics.
The product is used as a veterinary drug to treat diseases in nine
animal species, according to the experts.
The center has developed new active drug ingredients from furfural
for use in agricultural biotech and in human and animal medicine.
Also in Cuba, scientists have utilized sugarcane pulp to produce
anti-diarrhea drugs Ligmed-A and Ligmed-H, for animals and humans,
respectively.
The first has a powerful anti-microbe effect and a great capacity
to absorb toxins and pathogenic microbes in the digestive tract
of pigs.
Its use for livestock is made simple by the fact that it does not
have a strong taste or smell, nor does it have adverse side effects.
Ligmed-H has been used successfully in hospitals for digestive illnesses,
and even as a palliative for symptoms of colon cancer.
For decades, Cuba invested heavily in infrastructure and research
for a sector that focused mostly on sugar production. The aim now
is to take greatest advantage of that investment, say officials.
Among the projects under way is the creation of the Development
Center for Industrial Fermentation and Nutrition, which will have
three pilot plants for semi-commercial production of biotech derivatives
of sugarcane.
The Center has the financial support of the United Nations Development
Program and implementation support from the U.N. Industrial Development
Organization.
The two years of restructuring of the island's sugar sector has
included the closing of 70 mills, leaving 71 in operation.
In general, the objective of the conversion is to reduce production
costs and improve competition, develop sustainable agriculture and
increase food production, the Cuban officials said at the time.
Sugar has been the center of the Caribbean nation's economic, social
and cultural development for centuries, and -- until the restructuring
-- the sector employed 2.5 million people.
* Patricia Grogg is an IPS correspondent.
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