Spruce HMR lignan may slow development of hormonal cancers: Health effects from bioactive substances in tree knots

“Knot heartwood is easily utilised because it’s delivered along with the wood raw material to pulp and paper mills, where it can be separated out via a relatively simple process,” says Professor Bjarne Holmbom of Åbo Akademi University. Holmbom’s team at the Centre of Excellence in Process Chemistry has been researching components derived from wood and their properties as a part of the Wood Material Science and Engineering Research Programme of the Academy of Finland and Tekes, Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation.

The study, led by Holmbom, has analysed the knot heartwood of the main wood species in Finland as well as a number of foreign species. The first knot derivative product brought onto the market this year, HMR lignan isolated from spruce knot heartwood, will be marketed as a food additive. According to research carried out under the direction of Professor Risto Santti and Professor Sari Mäkelä at the University of Turku, HMR lignan slows down the development of hormonal cancers under test conditions. The substance may also have positive affects on cardiovascular diseases and other oestrogen dependent health problems such as menopause related conditions and osteoporosis.

“We don’t know whether this will be the next global brand after Benecol or Xylitol, but it has all the potential and there’s hope that it will,” says Holmbom.

Antioxidants in tree bark

Research by the Wood Material Science and Engineering Research Programme has, under Holmbom’s direction, also focused on derivatives of tree bark. Tree bark contains a variety of bioactive protective substances. For example, spruce bark contains large quantities of stilbenes which have numerous beneficial health effects.

“Research into natural sources of stilbenes has intensified in recent years. Studies are concentrated primarily on resveratrol, which has proven to be a strong antioxidant. It’s been shown to prevent the development of cancer and prolong cell lifespan,” Bjarne Holmbom says. Resveratrol is also found in the peel of black grapes and thus also in red wine.

Spruce bark contains small amounts of resveratrol but huge quantities, as much as ten percent of its own weight, of similar types of stilbenes. Holmbom’s team has analysed the components of spruce bark and isolated the most important stilbenes to undergo biotesting.

Towards natural chemistry

Professor Bjarne Holmbom believes that chemical production is currently entering a threshold of change. Today, demand is increasingly for more natural materials and chemicals in place of synthetic ones. In addition, the rising price of oil is threatening the petrochemistry industry.

“It’s now high time to develop new chemical production based on wood and other biomass-based natural materials in which renewable raw materials are produced using environmentally friendly processes and natural materials and natural chemical products. In other words, the chemicals industry must move gradually from “petro to bio”, i.e. from brown synthesis chemistry to green, natural chemistry,” Holmbom concludes.

Holmbom points out that the bulk of the world’s biomass is held in forests and the forest is the only really significant renewable organic raw material. “We now need to focus development on forest-based speciality materials and chemical production. Here in Finland we’re well positioned to be at the forefront of this development.”