About RU
                              
Background
            Plant Biomass Utilization Research Unit has been officially established since 2004 at the Department of Botany, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University in order to provide teaching, research and public service for academic study and research investigation related to plant biomass utilization.

Objective and goal
            Plant biomass is an important renewable resource comprising of lignocelluloses as a major component which is the most abundant chemicals organic in the world.
            We emphasize on the prospect of plant biomass for the potential application including the significance of association between plant and fungi, fungal enzymes for plant biomass degradation and products.
            Currently, we are focusing on the following subjects.

1. Biopolymer production from yeast in association with plant
            Fungi are found to be associated with several parts of plant. A number of tropical yeast strains have been successfully isolated from plant surfaces and identified by classical and molecular biological techniques. The yeast isolates are used to produce pullulan biopolymer with properties resemble to plastic which could be exploited in food, medical, cosmetic, and electronic industries.
  
2. Production of enzymes from fungi
            Several fungi have been isolated from habitats in Thailand. They are screened for their capabilities to produce enzymes for plant biomass degradation including cellulases, xylanases and ligninases. These enzymes were investigated for mechanisms and applications in pulp and paper manufacturing, fabric treatment and bioremediation.

3. Ethanol production from plant biomass
            Bioethanol, an important alternative fuel energy, are produced from fermentation process using agricultural residues and tropical weeds as substrates. The process of ethanol fermentation used in our research is called “Simultaneous Saccharification and Fermentation” (SSF).  
           
4. Biotransformation of specialty chemicals
            Biotransformation is a term used to describe the transformation or modification of the structure of organic chemicals by using fungi or enzymes from fungi. The product obtained may be altered in its molecular structure. The product might be a novel   substance or an intermediate for production of other chemicals. Our research has used a fungus Aspergillus for biotransformation of plant extracts.