A by-product becomes material.
OKIO started with a discovery in materials research. The testa of the cashew nut, normally thrown away, yields a bioactive plant extract · and that extract goes into biodegradable everyday products.
An overlooked by-product.
Vietnam is one of the world's largest cashew producers. After shelling and peeling, a thin, reddish-brown layer is left behind: the testa, also known as the cashew skin. It makes up roughly 4–6% of the kernel weight, and in Vietnam it adds up to an estimated 12,000–18,000 tonnes a year.
Despite its high content of bioactive polyphenols · above all catechins, epicatechins and condensed tannins · most of the testa is still burned in the open or thrown away. Burning it releases phenolic compounds, fine particulates and volatile organic pollutants, and it fouls the air and soil across the processing regions.
So there's a double waste. Burning a phenol-rich by-product in the open fouls the local air and soil, and a valuable natural resource goes almost entirely unused by industry.
- FAOSTAT (2024) ↗Vietnam cashew kernel production: 306,185 tonnes.
- Mgaya et al. (2019) · Green Chemistry ↗A review of how cashew by-products, including testa, can be put to use.
- Ganesan & Vedagiri (2022) · Materials Today ↗Burning cashew by-products releases phenolic compounds.
- Nguyen et al. (2021) · Environmental Progress ↗Open burning of cashew by-products and the drawbacks that come with it.
Out of an industry problem.
A German snack company · Intersnack · came to the University of Melbourne with a specific question: a sizeable share of the cashew harvest is by-product and ends up in landfill. Could something valuable be made from it?
The research began. In 2020, Didi Gan and Dr Jaslyn [CONFIRM: surname] developed a bioactive plant extract from the cashew testa: Vi-KANG. The underlying process is protected by an EU patent · [CONFIRM: patent number].
Vi-KANG is a phenol-rich extract from the cashew testa that keeps the natural polyphenols of the source material in a reproducible, traceable form.
The brief
An industry partner brings the problem of unused cashew by-products to the University of Melbourne.
The discovery
Didi Gan and Dr Jaslyn develop Vi-KANG · a phenol-rich extract from the cashew testa.
The patent
The process is filed as an EU patent, protecting how Vi-KANG is obtained and applied.
An extract in the material.
The base of every OKIO product is PBAT · a biodegradable plastic designed for home composting. Vi-KANG is embedded into this material as a plant extract, and it is present in all six OKIO products.
The hard part was getting a heat-sensitive plant extract into a plastic so that it survives in the finished product, without giving up the mechanical and compostable properties of the PBAT. The two come together at the compounding step, before the material becomes film and bags.
Vi-KANG is a component of the material, not an active ingredient with a guaranteed effect in finished OKIO products. Its antimicrobial properties were tested in the context of face masks and do not apply to OKIO products.
Tested under standard conditions.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the antiviral effectiveness of Vi-KANG was studied in standardised laboratory tests. These results relate solely to treated face masks and R&D samples · they do not apply to OKIO products.
ISO 18184 is a standardised method for determining the antiviral activity of textiles. The tests were carried out on treated face masks. The results describe the properties of Vi-KANG in a research context and do not carry over to OKIO consumer products.
Antiviral validation
Vi-KANG is tested against human coronavirus and SARS-CoV-2 in standardised tests (ISO 18184).
Pandemic use
The technology is trialled during the pandemic as a coating and in face masks across several regions.
A new mission · food
After the pandemic, N&E Innovations turns its focus to reducing food waste in Asia.
ASEAN rollout
First use in food packaging · from South Korea to Singapore · with leading hospitality and catering groups.
It's OK to be compostable.
In 2026, N&E Innovations brought the technology to two markets that take the environment seriously · the EU and Australia. It launched in Australia first, then spun OKIO out as its own brand: biodegradable everyday products with Vi-KANG inside. The name is the point · it's OK to be compostable.
- Six consumer products made from biodegradable PBAT
- Refined with Vi-KANG · a plant extract from upcycled cashew testa
- Designed for home composting
- A brand by N&E Innovations, Singapore
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