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Unlocking the Destructive Powers of Wood-Eating Termites: From Pest to Biopolymer Derivatives Extractor

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Biomass and Bioenergy

Abstract

Termites are social insects that live in colonies and its incredible digestive system may provide a breakthrough in efficient biopolymer derivatives production. Termite has the ability to digest a kind of food that few other living organisms are able to; the woody material. It has mouthparts that chew up wood into pieces. But the secret is that it carries special microorganisms that can digest the lignocellulosic material. By being the host to these special microorganisms, termites are able to do something that most living organisms are unable to; the ability to digest lignocellulosic materials. Termites have been considered nothing more than nuisance pest which destroy woody materials. The termite is found chewing on frames, furniture, and flooring made out of wood. But new research shows how the termite digest lignocellulose could hold a key to the production of numerous biopolymer derivatives from lignocellulosic material. Annoying as they may be, termites are amazingly efficient at converting wood into sugars, and that ability is very useful for making numerous biochemicals and biofuels. Researchers are studying the termite’s digestion process in order to synthetically copy the process so that lignocellulosic materials can be used as the source to derive numerous biochemicals. For decades, much effort was made to increase the utility of lignocellulosic materials. In consideration of the ever-growing demand for traditional usage such as fiber products, novel markets for lignocellulosic materials have been identified in recent years, in replacement of petrochemicals. The scientists believe that information learned from the termite could increase the efficiency of wood derivation, making these biopolymer derivatives even more cost-effective and utilizing lignocellulosic biomass as a sustainable source of chemicals and fuels by replacing fossil fuel. This chapter comprises information on recent conversion methods of biochemicals from lignocellulosic biomass for application enablement and commercialization, laying special emphasis on termite lignocellulolytic system.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Tropical Forestry and Forest Product (INTROP), Universiti Putra Malaysia, UPM Serdang, Selangor, 43400, Malaysia

    Kit-Ling Chin & M. T. Paridah

  2. Department of Forest Product, Faculty of Forestry, Universiti Putra Malaysia, UPM Serdang, Selangor, 43400, Malaysia

    Paik-San H’ng

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  1. Kit-Ling Chin
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  2. Paik-San H’ng
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  3. M. T. Paridah
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Correspondence to Paik-San H’ng .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Universiti Putra Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia

    Khalid Rehman Hakeem

  2. Universiti Putra Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia

    Mohammad Jawaid

  3. Universiti Putra Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia

    Umer Rashid

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Chin, KL., H’ng, PS., Paridah, M.T. (2014). Unlocking the Destructive Powers of Wood-Eating Termites: From Pest to Biopolymer Derivatives Extractor. In: Hakeem, K., Jawaid, M., Rashid, U. (eds) Biomass and Bioenergy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-07578-5_15

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