The Grain Brains, a team of four Kavanagh College pupils taking part in Dunedin's inaugural food science challenge, combined malt grains left over from the brewing process at The Emerson Brewing Company and pages from the Otago Daily Times, pulping them with water in a kitchen food processor to create a durable papier mache-like product.
The product has proved perfect for seedling pottles and weed mats.
The team has spent seven months perfecting the recipe and the best drying method.
Many nurseries had already replaced plastic seedling pots with peat mix pots, team member Ike Saunders said. But peat was a non-renewable resource.
"Our comparison tests show our product works just as well as the peat pots . . . So we think there is huge commercial potential here."
The team planned to patent the recipe but did not expect to make money from it.
Team member Charlotte Steel said they were keen to share the recipe with community groups such as Youthgrow, the horticultural training operation run by Presbyterian Support Otago.
The food science challenge began in Auckland and Palmerston North in 2008. It aims to match secondary school pupils with local food manufacturers and to introduce them to careers available in food science.
Seven teams entered the Dunedin challenge but only four completed their projects, University of Otago food science department head Prof Phil Bremer said yesterday.
Queen's High School entered two teams. One designed a label for a West's Cordial chocolate drink and tested its market appeal, while the other developed a pesto in a squeeze bottle for Pasta D'Oro.
A Columba College team worked with manufacturer Harraway and Sons and developed a pre-prepared crumble topping which could be sold on its own or with a pack of prepared fresh fruit.
The teams were judged yesterday. The winner will be announced next month.
