Thainan biotech raises tens of millions in funding for world's first lac tree acid-based liquid mulch film

Recently, Xi'an Meinan Biotechnology Co., Ltd. (Meinan High-Tech) announced the launch of a self-developed lacquer acid-based liquid mulch product.

At the same time, the company completed a tens of millions RMB Series B financing round in April, exclusively invested by Jiufeng Capital, with the full transaction to be completed in May 2026. The company's strong technological innovation capabilities continue to be recognized by the capital market.

Meinan Hi-Tech, established in 2016, is a national high-tech enterprise and a Class A reserve A-share listed company in Shaanxi Province. It focuses on the research and development of new green ecological composite materials and holds over 130 core patents. Its core products, such as hydrated water retention agents and new waterproof materials, have been widely applied in major national projects including desert control and ecological restoration.

The company has secured orders totaling over RMB 2 billion, such as signing at the end of 2023 a US$300 million procurement contract for new materials and technologies for desert management in the UAE market, and in May 2024 signing a RMB 100 million order with a Turkish company for desert management and waterproofing engineering projects.

 

 

The world's first anacardic acid-based liquid mulch film

The newly launched lacquer acid-based liquid mulch is the first plant-based liquid mulch with lacquer acid as the core raw material, jointly developed by Meinan Hi-Tech and the Xi'an Lacquer Coating Research Institute of the All China Federation of Supply and Marketing Cooperatives.

What is anacardic acid? It is a bioactive phenolic compound found in cashew nut shell waste (not lacquer tree), with a content as high as 84%. Large quantities of cashew shell waste are generated worldwide every year, and Meinan Bio extracts high-value functional materials from it.

 

More ingeniously, the company also innovatively used kettle-bottom waste—the bottom residue left after distilling cashew nutshell oil to extract resorcinol—to replace part of the urushiol in the reaction, which not only improved the film-forming performance but also significantly reduced costs.

According to the patent "A Liquid Film Based on Lacquer Tree Acid and Its Preparation Method CN 121928805 A" jointly applied by Xi'an Lacquer Tree Research Institute and Xi'an Meinan Biotechnology, its formula includes a mixture of lacquer tree acid emulsion (Component A) and a polyurethane dispersion/humic acid mixed solution (Component B).

 

 

In this collaboration, the Xi’an Raw Lacquer Institute provides the extraction and purification technology for urushiolic acid, while Xi’an Meinan Biotechnology is responsible for moisture retention, controlled release, and industrialization.

Domestic pioneering multi-solvent subcritical low-temperature extraction technology.

The company adopts the domestically pioneering multi-solvent subcritical low-temperature extraction technology.and is complemented by a low-temperature pulverization process,Increased the extraction yield of urushiol to 31%, successfully achieving industrial-scale mass production of the material.

This liquid film can be diluted with water for mechanized spraying. It forms at room temperature within 8 to 10 hours and naturally degrades into humic acid organic fertilizer within 70 to 90 days, completely solving the problem of white pollution caused by traditional plastic mulch in farmland.

Laboratory and field experiments provided solid data: mung bean germination rates reached 75.56% to 84.44%, comparable to commercial liquid mulches; mung bean seedlings grew well after 45 days, showing no significant difference from traditional plastic mulch; thermal insulation and water retention tests also confirmed the reliability in the field.

The product targets two key scenarios.

More importantly, it is fully biodegradable and does not cause "white pollution" in farmland like traditional plastic mulching films. The product targets two main application scenarios: first, sand and dust control—after spraying, it can aggregate sand and gravel, reduce wind erosion, and improve saline-alkali land, providing a low-cost, environmentally friendly sand-fixing material for desertification control; second, agricultural planting—it offers functions such as temperature enhancement, moisture retention, and antibacterial effects, making it suitable for field crops, seedbeds, and the root zones of fruit trees.