Anti-aging properties for cosmetics discovered in rice straw residue

The rice straw, the residue left from the harvesting of the grain, contains anti-aging properties for cosmetics and is also useful for the footwear industry, qualities that farmers in the Albufera of Valencia now aim to exploit to gain economic benefit from this biomaterial. This is the main conclusion of a project born from the rice farmers of the Albufera, through the union Unió Llauradora i Ramadera, which has been developed together with the Miguel Hernández University (UMH) of Elche, the Footwear Technology Institute (Inescop) and the shoe components company Analco. Annually, around 80,000 tons of rice straw are produced in this emblematic Valencian area without the farmers having found a satisfactory solution so far because it is very difficult to remove from muddy soils and the humidity. This has traditionally led to the burning of the straw, although this is done less and less due to the impact on global warming and the effects on nearby towns, or by mixing it into the ...