Vinegar Paper
by
The Vinegar Man

Cellulose is the major component of cotton, wood and plants that are used for things like textiles, paper and construction materials.  Some beautiful art work can be made with vinegar paper.

Vinegar paper is what is technically referred to as microbial cellulose. That is to say it is cellulose made by micro organisms. While other types of cellulose is harvested from plants, vinegar paper is made by bacteria.

The the future of vinegar paper is great. It is presently being studied By Dr. Malcome Brown at the University of Texas in Austin Texas.  He has been studying it for many years and has discovered many great uses for this paper.  But they are not alone in the rush to discover novel uses for this unique material.

Ajinomoto Co. along with Mitsubishi Paper Mills in Japan are busy developing new ways to use the vinegar paper fibers in various paper products. Vinegar Paper is being investigated as a binder in papers. It is made up of extremely small clusters of cellulose micro fibrils and this property adds to a lot of strength and durability to the pulp when integrated into paper.

Another novel use could be wound care. Johnson & Johnson has been investigating the use of microbial cellulose as a liquid loaded pad for wound care since the early 1980âs.  Since then, a  Brazilian company, Biofill Industries, has continued the research on vinegar paper is beginning to market specific products made from it for the wound care market.

Dr. Brown and his team of researchers have developed a process to produce molded objects of vinegar paper while it is growing. That process would make it possible to make non woven, shaped objects like artificial arteries, vessels, skin, etc.  And because vinegar paper is highly absorptive it will most likely be the center of a large market in wound care and drug delivery.

Sony Corporation worked with Ajinomoto to develop the first audio speaker diaphragms using vinegar paper. The unique characteristics of vinegar paper is used to create a sound transducing membrane which is about the best material available to meet the strict requirements for optimal sound reproduction.

Though the first headphones were a little expensive, over $3,000 for one pair, the price recently has dropped, and the vinegar paper headphones are available all over the world where high end audio equipment is sold.

In the near future you will likely see larger speaker diaphragms made of vinegar paper.

But novel uses for vinegar paper is not limited to the high tech arena. Known as Nata, vinegar paper is a popular food which is grown in vats of coconut milk pineapple juice and other extracts. It is popular as a desert all over Asia. In Japan it is popular with dieters since it is not digestible by humans.  The potential as a health and/or diet food is only beginning to be explored but seem to have a lot of potential.

It has been part of a growing cottage industry in the Philippines for over 70 years.  It is even exported.  More than $26 million per year  were being exported from the Philippines as of 1993.  In fact they are having a hard time meeting production demands and are busy trying to find new ways to make more of it.

This becomes more interesting when you consider that the vinegar industry has spent millions of dollars trying to keep the vinegar bacteria from making vinegar paper.

But this is just the beginning. Vinegar paper has a great future. According to Dr. Malcome Brown, these are a few of the products which could be manufactured from vinegar paper.

Food Products
Low calorie ice creams chips, snacks, candy
Thickeners (ice cream and salad dressing
Weight reduction bas
Base for artificial meat
Sausage and meat casing
Serum cholesterol reduction
Kombucha elixir or Manchurian tea

Health care
Baby care Products
Disposable recyclable diapers
Wound care dressings
Drug delivery agents, either oral or dermal
Artificial skin substrate
Cosmetics and Beauty
Skin creams
Astringents
Base for artificial nails
Thickener and strengthener for fingernail polish

Environmental
Oil spill cleanup sponge
Absorptive base for toxic material removal
Petroleum and Mining
Mineral and oil recovery ( see US Patents 5,011,596 and 5,009,797)
Clothing and Shoe
Artificial leather products
One piece textiles
Outdoor Sports
Disposable tents and camping gear

Industrial Uses
Water purification via ultra filters and reverse osmosis membranes
Audio Products
Superior audio speaker diaphragms
Forest Products
Artificial wood strengthener (plywood laminates)
Filler for paper
High strength containers
Specialty Papers
Archival document repair
Paper base for long-lived currency
Automotive and Aircraft
Car bodies
Airplane structural elements
Rocket casings for deep space missions