Valorization potential of pine needle waste biomass: recent trends and future perspectives

Pines play a significant role in forest biodiversity globally and generate huge forest litter. Dry pine needles due to low ignition temperature and high frictional force with the ground catch fire quickly. Annual forest fires in the northern states of India greatly impact the Indian economy besides causing huge loss to biodiversity, livelihood, and environment. Pine needles are also considered unfit for fodder consumption due to presence of tannins. Although the presence of softwood lignin in pine needles makes it difficult to degrade easily, the presence of holocellulose (68.5%) containing 45-51% cellulose makes this biomass a potential substrate to be used in pulp-making industries for low-grade paper sheets. The good fiber length of pine needles (1.3-1.4 mm) with a diameter of 30-32 mu m, maybe considered important property for paper making. The use of pine needles in the pharmaceutical and food industries are due to the presence of secondary metabolites (alpha-pinene, beta-pinene, caryophyllene etc.). The various other potential applications of pine needles are for producing bio-ethanol (yield, 3.98%; purity, 94%), biogas (yield, 23.1 L kg(-1)), smokeless briquettes (calorific value, 18.77 MJ kg(-1)), biochar (calorific value, 25.6 MJ kg(-1)), bio-composites (tensile strength, 21-60 MPa), and bio-pesticides. This paper comprehensively reviews the current applications of pine needles along with its future prospective applications that can have the dual advantage of providing employment opportunities to the people along with environmental protection.

Automated summary

Pines are important for global forest biodiversity and produce a large amount of forest litter. Dry pine needles can easily catch fire due to their low ignition temperature and friction with the ground. Forest fires in northern India have significant economic and environmental impacts, causing damage to biodiversity and livelihoods. Pine needles have potential applications in industries such as pulp-making, pharmaceuticals, and food due to the presence of useful compounds. Additionally, pine needles can be utilized for biofuel production, bio-pesticides, and other environmental protection purposes.