ABSTRACT
We generally take for granted all the industrial products produced synthetically such as plastics, fibers, adhesives, dyes, paints, and pharmaceuticals. However, only a century ago these products were derived almost entirely from plants and animals [1]. Traditionally, cereals are used for either food or animal feeds. However, cereals have also found uses in nonfood areas throughout human history. There is evidence that cereal starch was used as an adhesive as early as 3500 b.c. [2]. Documents dating back to 130 b.c. describe a paste made from fine white flour and vinegar, which was used as sizing for papyrus [2]. Corn flour was used to powder men’s wigs in the eighteenth century [3]. In the first half of this century, a great deal of research was done on using cereals as industrial components for the production of various materials. The first few decades of the twentieth century saw great improvements in the practices and mechanization of farming, resulting in increased agricultural production. After the depression, world economic conditions changed, and demands for agricultural products decreased. Large crop surpluses remained. In 1935, a group of scientists and industrialists formed the Farm Chemurgic Council [4]. This group proposed to channel the crop surpluses into chemical industries for nonfood products. Thus began the chemurgy movement.
