Source: taiga-ntfp@taigarescue.org
Chemist Pavel Krasutsky calls birch bark nature's "white gold."
Betulin, a powdery substance in the outer bark of the birch tree, has been shown to help wounds heal faster and cut inflammation. Many cosmetic companies, touting it as a skin toner and restorer, add birch bark extract to some of their products. And a compound, betulinic acid, is being tested as a treatment for melanoma and other serious diseases.
But birch bark largely has been burned as fuel after the trees were harvested for lumber. "This is a miracle which nature synthesized for us and we are burning this miracle like cheap fuel," Krasutsky said as he worked in his laboratory at the University of Minnesota-Duluth's Natural Resources Research Institute (NRRI).
That is changing, partly through a partnership formed in 2000 by NRRI, Potlatch Corp. and Synertec, an Allete subsidiary, to build on research being done at the university. The Duluth-based partnership, NaturNorth Technologies LLC, has developed a patented process to cost-effectively isolate pure betulin and other compounds from birch bark in very large quantities. NaturNorth scientists also have patented a way to convert betulin to betulinic acid. The partners, opting to go into business instead of licensing the patents to others, hope demand for the birch bark compounds grows enough to give them a lucrative venture.
Potlatch, a wood products and paper producer, can contribute raw material - at least 100 000 pounds of birch bark daily. The bark yields about 10 percent betulin, "so we literally can get tons of this stuff a day," said Robert Carlson, a university chemistry professor who is working on the project. Once the compounds are isolated, scientists can produce new derivatives to expand the range of potential uses. That's how NaturNorth creates betulinic acid from betulin.
NaturNorth, which has only small test production capabilities, pays a company in Prince Edward Island, Canada, to do the large-scale production work and another in Chicago to do smaller-scale derivative work, mostly for cosmetics use. Although birch bark extracts already are used in some cosmetics, NaturNorth offers the pure compounds found in the bark. To get to this point, however, NaturNorth was forced to find a way of removing the small amount of betulinic acid that occurs naturally in birch bark before it could offer any compounds to the cosmetics industry. Unilever NV had patented the use of betulinic acid in cosmetics and licensed the exclusive worldwide patent rights to Premier Specialties Inc., of Middlesex, New Jersey, USA. Premier has sold birch bark extract to the cosmetics industry since the mid-1990s.
Although NaturNorth expects to benefit from supplying pure birch bark compounds other than betulinic acid for use in cosmetics, it's the ability to isolate and derive from the pure compounds - especially changing the betulin molecule to create betulinic acid in large quantities - that has Krasutsky thinking of white gold.
Betulinic acid has been explored as a potential treatment for skin cancer for more than a decade, and that's one area NaturNorth is interested in. Betulin and its derivatives and other birch bark compounds also are being tested for effectiveness in treating HIV and respiratory syncytial virus. The bark compounds and derivatives also are being tested for effectiveness in crop disease management and preventing fungus growth on golf course turf. In addition to their other patents, Carlson, Krasutsky and colleagues have patented the use of betulin to cosmetically treat herpes and have other patent applications pending. Carlson said NaturNorth hopes to supply betulinic acid and its derivatives to other scientists doing clinical tests on their use in treating disease and, ultimately - if the tests are successful - becoming the supplier when the products are commercialized. No human testing has been conducted yet on betulinic acid as a treatment for melanoma, HIV or RSV, he said, but those tests are planned once researchers get regulatory approval.
A Russian company, Birch World Ltd. of Moscow, also has developed a method of isolating betulin from birch bark and has been producing commercial quantities for nine months, said Vice President V. Vdovenko. Birch World sells cosmetics and food supplements containing betulin in Europe and Japan, but has no North American customers, he said.
("Using technology to tap birch bark's potential", Karren Mills, Associated Press.)
