The billion-dollar fragrance and bioactive ingredients sector represents a significant part of the chemicals sector, which is responsible for 6% of the total global greenhouse gas emissions, and changing regulations have prompted this industry to identify climate-neutral routes for manufacturing fragrance ingredients and bioactive compounds.

Flowers are a rich source of terpenes, which are versatile molecules that can be tailored into precursors for fragrance ingredients and functional chemicals with bioactive properties. Bioactive compounds have antimicrobial properties and are used in surface cleaning applications.

This project will showcase the potential of flower waste originating in the UK as an alternative feedstock to produce bio-based terpene compounds for application in the consumer goods sector. We propose a flower waste biorefinery that utilises experimental and computational methods to transform flower biomass into bio-based ingredients.

The project aims to: (i) produce terpene esters from a range of flower waste streams through biocatalysis, (ii) demonstrate a continuous approach to processing flower waste at scale and (iii) evaluate commercial feasibility of flower waste as a scalable alternative to fossil-derived feedstock.

The project outcomes will enable a new, sustainable supply chain for bio-based chemicals production and advance the shift towards an ethical bio-based economy, aligning with the UK’s 2050 vision for sustainable and net-zero manufacturing in the chemical industry.

Led by Parimala Shivaprasad, University of Nottingham