• Question: What types of plants do you use for the bandages?

    Asked by hamwich to Marcus on 17 Jun 2014.
    • Photo: Marcus Johns

      Marcus Johns answered on 17 Jun 2014:


      I don’t actually use any specific plants because the chemical that I use can be found in all plants! It’s called cellulose and is found in the walls of plant cells, effectively acting as the scaffold that holds plants together. This means that there’s an almost unlimited supply of it, making it cheap to buy.

      I also use chitosan, which can be found in certain fungi (mushrooms and toadstools), but is mainly obtained from the shells of crustaceans (prawns, muscles, crabs). The seafood industry, which is very large, currently throws away most of the shells from the crustaceans so have another almost limitless supply there as well!

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