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What Are Raw Plant Materials?
Mary McMahon
Mary McMahon
Raw plant materials are commercially useful plants that can be used to produce a variety of products from medicines to fuels. They may be cultivated on farms and in greenhouses to meet demand, and can also be harvested in the wild if they do not take well to cultivation. Research and development with raw plant materials is an ongoing process in labs in many regions of the world. It includes developing new uses for plants already known to have commercial value along with exploring new plants with potential applications. Specialists in this field study topics like biology, botany, and chemistry.
The use of raw plant materials is ancient in many human cultures, where plants have been used to produce medicines, dyes, and fibers for thousands of years. Medicine continues to be a common application. Plants can be processed to produce traditional herbal medicines or more complex pharmaceuticals if they produce compounds that cannot be successfully synthesized. This requires careful controls to keep the products pure and consistent in nature and test them to determine what they do and how they should be delivered.
Raw plant materials are also used to make fibers and related products, including cloth and paper. Plants can be durable and resistant in a variety of settings, depending on how they are processed. Cotton, flax, and bamboo are commonly used in these applications. As raw materials for manufacturing, they may be cultivated on a large scale to make them more cost-effective.
Certain fuels can be made with raw plant materials, which can also be processed to produce other valuable chemicals. Biofuels, as they are known, rely on renewable resources to generate energy, rather than petroleum products. A variety of crops produce oils suitable for processing into fuel. Researchers who work with raw plant materials may focus on increasing efficiency to make fuel production with plants more practical and appropriate than continued use of fossil fuels.
Ongoing research into new applications for plants can include chemical studies to learn more about the properties of plants, as well as test runs producing various kinds of products with plants. Technicians in this field may work with an assortment of plants to identify new commercially valuable species. Many facilities have a specific interest in developing more environmentally friendly processes and may look to plants to accomplish this. Their work may culminate in patents if inventors can develop a proprietary process for a non-obvious use of a plant.
Mary McMahon
Ever since she began contributing to the site several years ago, Mary has embraced the exciting challenge of being a AboutMechanics researcher and writer. Mary has a liberal arts degree from Goddard College and spends her free time reading, cooking, and exploring the great outdoors.
Learn more...
Mary McMahon
Ever since she began contributing to the site several years ago, Mary has embraced the exciting challenge of being a AboutMechanics researcher and writer. Mary has a liberal arts degree from Goddard College and spends her free time reading, cooking, and exploring the great outdoors.
Learn more...AS FEATURED ON:
AS FEATURED ON:
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![A plant growing.]()
By: Sergey GalushkoA plant growing. -
![Raw plant materials, such as those of the flax plant, are used to make cloth and paper products.]()
By: ElenathewiseRaw plant materials, such as those of the flax plant, are used to make cloth and paper products. -
![Raw plants cultivated on farms are used to create many other products.]()
By: Johan LarsonRaw plants cultivated on farms are used to create many other products.
Discussion Comments
I wish that bamboo fibers were used more often, rather than cotton. I saw a documentary recently about how many chemicals go into making cotton, since it's so difficult to grow well and it really is very polluting.
And bamboo is much easier to grow and the material is very soft. I guess the bamboo is probably more difficult or costly to process though, since it always seems to be more expensive in the material store.
@irontoenail - People mostly hear about the changes in plants that are fairly obvious, like the ones made that directly affect the taste. It's the ones that are made to affect the way the plant grows that are going to have the biggest impact in the end.
Like the plants that have been made resistant to herbicide, so that they could be grown in fields without weeds. Unfortunately, they often become weeds themselves, since they can't be controlled.
The problem with treating plant genetics like some kind of malleable raw material is that they are living things and it's difficult to always see the end result of what we do. I'm not completely against genetic engineering, but I do think we should be more cautious about what we do with it.
The different innovations in plants that are starting to hit the shelves at the moment are really interesting. I am excited to see what happens in genetic engineering in the next few decades.
Some of it is a bit ridiculous though, I have to admit. I read an article recently about a company that has tried to make grapes that taste like candy to appeal to children. I mean, I feel like a grape is already going to appeal to kids a fair amount and making them taste slightly different isn't going to change much.
I have to say it made me curious as to what wine would taste like if it was made from those grapes though.
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