Move over, Roman concrete...sticky rice just entered the chat

Just ran across this article from 2010 about the "secret sauce" in the mortar of the Great wall:

Article on sticky rice in GW lime mortar

I like this quote from the abstract:

Moreover, the amylopectin in the lime mortar was found to act as an inhibitor; the growth of the calcium carbonate crystals is controlled by its presence, and a compact structure results, which may explain the enhanced performance of this organic−inorganic composite compared to single-component lime mortar.

Serious question... Does anyone know a cost-comparison? Sticky rice versus typical concrete agglomerate/conglomerate?

If I were living and attempting to do some natural building in China, I would most surely see what rice could do as a building material. Good on them.

wonder how they convinced a large workforce to throw a large amount of a food source into batches of limecrete---couldn t image there would be a lot of left overs from  dinner after a hard days labour at the wall

Might be a lot easier to grow more rice than mine / process limestone....

seems they were using the rice to augment the lime mortar ,not replacing the lime , but perhaps rice water /slurry was used ---kind of a by product from cooking it for eating maybe---i wonder how many other lost methods are still to be recovered from the past ---but they mostly  seem to be ignored even when puzzled out---seems some research was done with potato starch for the same effect --and waste cellulose--could be useful for building /repairing a stonewall maybe---slowing the set ---less water spraying and damping down

Hm! Interesting. Based on the effect of sticky rice on my digestion this is not a complete surprise.

Growing enough rice for industry would be a problem.

I wonder if the essential elements could be pulled out of  agricultural/ food processing waste streams.