[PERSPECTIVE]

by Ricardo Simpson and Sudhir Sastry

Biomimetics: Learning from Nature

rguably, many of the problems that an engineer wants

to solve now and in the near
future may already have been
solved by nature, although in a
different context.
It is thought that living organisms have been on planet Earth
for approximately 3.8 billion
years. This represents nearly 4
billion years of evolution, where
nature not only has been hosting
life in a sustainable, yet dynamic

performing careful microscopic

observations, de Mestral understood the mechanism by which
the seeds adhere so strongly. His
work led to the development of a
commercial product called
Velcro.
Biomimetics refers to the art
of adapting, for our own benefit,
processes, substances, devices,
or systems that resemble what
nature has devised. While the
main motivation is economic ben-

super-hydrophobic surface
allows water droplets to roll off
the leaf, taking on its way dirt
particles and self-cleaning the
leaf. Water repellent characteristics go beyond plant leaves and,
for example, help some insects to
self-clean their large wings and
facilitate flying.
Edible films. In recent years,
the use of edible films for transportation of active substances in
foods has attracted much atten-

Biomimetics refers to the art of adapting, for our own benefit,

processes, substances, devices, or systems that resemble what nature has devised.
manner, but often using minimum
resources to attain maximum
performance.
From ancient days, the wonders of nature have been an
inspiration for humankind. For
example, more than 3,000 years
ago, Chinese people were trying
to mimic the remarkable strength
of the spider web to produce hard
synthetic silk.
One of the most illustrative
recent examples is the invention
of Velcro by the Swiss inventor
George de Mestral (19071990).
In the early 1940s, as he walked
in the woods with his dog, he
noticed that seeds were firmly
stuck to his pants and also to his
dogs fur. What for de Mestral
and other people who walk with
dogs was a problem, from the
point of view of nature, is a way of
transporting seeds (and consequently new plants) to new
locations. de Mestral asked himself why this happened. By
pg 116

02.13 www.ift.org

efit, more importantly, we will be

to learn from nature how to
develop a sustainable way of
living.
It is only relatively recently
that scientists and engineers as a
community have focused
methodically on nature to
improve the design of materials,
devices, structures, and processes. It is now easier to look
deep into nature because today
we have microscopes and tools
that allow us to better observe
nature and improve our understanding of the micro and nano
worlds.
Some examples from nature
that may have relevance to food
processing include:
The lotus effect. The leaf of
this plant is unique in that it highly
repels water. When a water droplet is deposited on its surface, it
practically forms a sphere, with
very little contact angle between
the water and the leaf. This

tion because of their holding

capacity and/or controlled
release of active compounds.
Nature offers a great variety of
edible coatings/peels. For example, banana peels not only extend
shelf life but also control gas
transfer, retard maturation, and
have antibacterial activity and UV
protection. The skins and peels of
foods can be a source of inspiration for the design and structure
of new edible films, but also
should be studied for their composition, where we might extract
many compounds of interest.
Then, we can view processing in
an integral way and design future
processes like nature does,
transforming and processing
without waste. Furthermore,
nature does not separate package and product, producing just
one harmonious thing altogether.
Can dolphins teach us heat
transfer? Dolphins live in tropical
waters (1032 C) and are highly

adaptable in regulating temperature. For example, in the flukes,

flippers, and dorsal fin, arteries
are surrounded by veins to
increase heat transfer and maintain body temperature. Heat
transfer is highly efficient
because it is countercurrent. The
dorsal fin provides stability, but
also plays an important role in its
body thermoregulation.
Regulation of rates of reaction. As an example of how nature
manages chemical reactions, we
need look no further than at
enzymes, which significantly
accelerate the rates of chemical
reactions. Virtually all reactions
occurring within cells are catalyzed by enzymes. An essential
feature is that the reactions
within the cell occur at moderate
temperatures (050 C) and typically around atmospheric
pressure.
One of our most significant
challenges is to significantly
increase the efficiency of energy
and water utilization. It may help
us in this regard to look at, appreciate, and understand how nature
manages these critical
resources. Chemical and bioprocesses inspired by nature may
help achieve harmonious and
sustainable development with our
environment. FT
Ricardo Simpson (ricardo.simpson@usm.cl), a
Professional member of IFT, is Associate
Professor, Dept. of Chemical, Biotechnological,
and Environmental Processes, Universidad
Tcnica Federico Santa Mara, Valparaiso,
Chile. Sudhir Sastry (sastry.2@osu.edu), a
Professional member of IFT, is Professor, Dept.
of Food, Agricultural, and Biological
Engineering, Ohio State Univ.