Biocomposites are materials made by nature or synthetically that include some type of natural material in it's structure.  Take a banana peel as an example of an all natural composite.  It doesn't seem to be the toughest material around;  we can easily rip it open.

But it does an effective job at what it's supposed to do -- protect the fruit inside.  If it didn't, natural selection would have wiped it out a long time ago  But the amazing thing is that it grows with the fruit!  How many synthetic composites do that?

All kinds of natural materials have been included or modified to be included in composite applications.  Here's a few:

• Wood
• Cotton
• Hemp
• Soybean
• Wheat
• Rapeseed
• Kenaf
• Corn

Biocomposites can be used for a range of applications:

• Building Materials
• Absorbents
• Adhesives and bonding agents
• Degradable polymers