Edible Nanostructures

September 2, 2010 | Research

EVANSTON, Ill. --- "Sugar, salt, alcohol and a little serendipity led a Northwestern University research team to discover a new class of nanostructures that could be used for gas storage and food and medical technologies. And the compounds are edible.

The porous crystals are the first known all-natural metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) that are simple to make. Most other MOFs are made from petroleum-based ingredients, but the Northwestern MOFs you can pop into your mouth and eat, and the researchers have.

'They taste kind of bitter, like a Saltine cracker, starchy and bland,' said Ronald A. Smaldone, a postdoctoral fellow at Northwestern"

This is a very interesting article. Here is a link for you to use if you would like to read it. There's even a recipe so you can make your own edible MOF at home.

http://www.northwestern.edu/newscenter/stories/2010/09/edible-nanostructures-stoddart.html