Non-food crops

Second generation biofuels Non-food crops, wheat straw, com, wood, solid waste, energy crop Bioalcohols, bio-oil, bio-DMF, Biohydrogen, bio-Fischer-Tropsch diesel, wood diesel... 

Dealing with such problems and adopting methodologies to reduce any risk of crop contamination places additional labour, infrastructure and financial burdens on growers. To address such concerns it has been proposed that non-food crop plants unrelated to current food crops and native flora (to avoid risk of crosspollination) should be used as potential hosts for engineered industrial use traits. Crambe, (Crambe abyssinica) has been identified as a suitable model oil crop plant (EPOBIO 2007). Crambe is a plant that has already been commercialised on a relatively small scale to exploit its high erucic acid content. Elsewhere, safflower has been proposed as a potential candidate, as well as the use of algae, moss and the aquatic plant duck weed in contained bioreactor systems. 

In discussing fungicides we must add some non-food crops rubber (Hevea brasiliensis), coffee (Coffea spp.), cotton (Uossypium spp.), tea and tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum). 

J. Huang, N. Li, H. Van MeiJL F. Van Tongeren, Global Trade and Biotechnology Boosts to Non-Food Crop Productivity in China , Paper presented at the S " Annual Conference on Global Economic Analysis, Taipei, Taiwan, 2002. 

Any process that causes comingling or cross contamination of food and non-food crops is a concern. Cross-pollination with food crops is a particular concern, and several strategies for preventing it have been described (48). For example, crops producing oils for use in industry and containing a non-food fatty acid should not comingle or cross with related food crops. Such crops would have to be grown... 

In conclusion, plastid-based expression systems provide for potentially higher expression levels than the majority of nuclear expression systems, and with a higher level of transgene containment, but the platform provides limited post-translational processing choices. Also, despite reports of successful plastid transformation of new species beyond Nicotiana, the choice of production host is stiU predominantly restricted to the Nicotiana family. However, this hmita-tion does not present a serious drawback for production of pharmaceutical proteins (except perhaps for edible vaccines ) since tobacco is a non-feed/non-food crop with a weU-estabhshed agriculture. 

Note. Afargosan-O, a neem formulation, has been approved by the EPA (1985) for limited use as a pesticide on non-food crops Chem. Eng, News 63, 51 (May 27, 1985). 

Organic agriculture is also interested in non-food crops, like flowers or textiles, that may receive a boost from a diffusion of the ethical consuming culture (e.g., see Perilli, 2006), since the adoption of a new life-style in food consumption may be reflected also on other aspects of an individual s life, like wearing environment-fiiendly clothes, using bio-engineering concepts and so on. 

The plant kingdom may have future potential in the fields of chemistiy, energy and renewable materials. Non-food crops prevent the annual importation of hundreds of thousands of tons of oil, and, in the field of macromolecules, they can provide natural monomers, surfactants, stabilizers and polymers. 

Nattrass L, Higson A (2010). National Non-Food Crops Centre, Renewable chemicals factsheet lactic acid. htq) //www.nnfcc.co.uk/publicationsAmfcc-renewable-chemicals-factsheet-lactic-acid... 

Mangan CL. Non-food crops and non-food uses in EC research programs. FEMS Microbiol Rev... 

The potential markets for non-food crops are both large and diverse, ranging from biofuels to performance chemicals and pharmaceuticals. 

Non-food crops are viewed as a means to improve industrial sustainabihty, improve rural economies and increase crop biodiversity. Globally, governments have developed a raft of policies and strategies to stimulate non-food crop markets and technologies (Alcimed, 2007 Defra and DTI, 2007 Hodsman et al, 2005 Schmitz, 2007 U.S. Department of Energy, 2006). 

Adrian P. Higson (El) and Alison Hamer The National Non-Food Crops Centre, Biocentre,... 

As the name suggests, a non-food crop is a crop used in applications other than for human food... 

From amaranth and artemisia to yarrow and yew, there are hundreds of crops in use or under development for non-food applications around the world. The UK s National Non-Food Crops Centre (NNFCC) holds agronomy and market details on about a hundred of the key European crops. 

The majority of non-food crops also have food and/or feed uses, for example wheat and oilseed rape (OSR). The use of existing food crops with well-understood agronomy and developed supply chains can offer an easier route to market over the development of completely novel non-food crops. Current crops dominating the non-food area are those that produce sugar, starch and oils, for use in the production of fuel and bulk chemicals. 

Although a large amount of data is available for large volume crop cultivation, information on the cultivation of speciality crops is less available. The situation is further complicated by the dual use of crops in food and non-food applications. Table 1 serves to give an idea of the cultivation levels of a range of speciality non-food crops in Europe. For comparison, approximately 5 and 25 million hectares (ha) of European land (EU27) are used for OSR and wheat eultivation annually. Land used for cultivation of crops for herbal remedies in Europe amounts to 70,000-100,000 ha (Williamson and MacTavish, 2007). 

Table 1 European non-food crop activity (2004) (The Promotion of Non-Food Crops Hodsman et...

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