A team of Purdue University students who developed a soy-based denture adhesive has won top prize in the annual Student Soybean Innovation Contest, sponsored by the Indiana Soybean Alliance.
Some products that students have created in previous years have led to commercial development and additional research projects, the university noted. Soy crayons, for example, are available in stores under the Prang brand, and a soy pharmaceutical excipient is undergoing full-scale university research.
Team members who developed Dentural, the first-place entry in the soybean contest this year, presented an all-natural adhesive for full dentures. The product is in the form of a paste consisting of soy products that form a vacuum to keep dentures in place. It is an alternative to synthetic chemicals used in other products.
Team leader Alvin Ang, a senior chemical engineering student, said the group chose to develop Dentural after learning that other denture creams contain zinc, leading to health concerns. He said one dentist already is interested in the product.
The team will share a cash award of $20,000.
