RESEARCHERS TOUT INVASIVE KUDZU AS POSSIBLE GOOD BIOETHANOL SOURCE.

WASHINGTON, D.C. ---- It has caused the U.S. southeast millions of dollars in property and crop damage, but a researcher in Canada and colleagues in the U.S. Department of Agriculture say the invasive kudzu vine could be an important source of bioethanol.

Their findings come at a time when experts are rethinking whether corn is best suited for ethanol production as a biofuel alternative to to gasoline. The rise in ethanol demand has prompted concerns over food supply shortages, which have contributed to increases in food prices worldwide.

The kudzu vine could ease the problem, said University of Toronto professor Rowan Sage, one of eight authors whose study was published in Biomass and Bioenergy.

The kudzu vine is a fast growing woody vine that can grow up to 60 feet in one season. It's underground roots store plenty of starch essential for ethanol production. Kudzu is native to China and Japan, where the starchy roots have long been used for cooking and thickening sauces. In the U.S., the plant is considered a nuisance.

Sage and his research team gathered samples of kudzu throughout the South. They found the carbohydrates the plant stores in its roots can be converted into ethanol with yeast. And unlike corn, kudzu doesn't have high planting and maintenance costs.