Cristine Rodrigues

Milk kefir: composition, microbial cultures, biological activities, and related products

In recent years, there has been a strong focus on beneficial foods with probiotic microorganisms and functional organic substances. In this context, there is an increasing interest in the commercial use of kefir, since it can be marketed as a natural beverage that has health promoting bacteria. There are numerous commercially available kefir based-products. Kefir may act as a matrix in the effective delivery of probiotic microorganisms in different types of products. Also, the presence of kefir’s exopolysaccharides, known as kefiran, which has biological activity, certainly adds value to products. Kefiran can also be used separately in other food products and as a coating film for various food and pharmaceutical products. This article aims to update the information about kefir and its microbiological composition, biological activity of the kefir’s microflora and the importance of kefiran as a beneficial health substance.

New perspectives of gibberellic acid production: a review.

The gibberellins (GAs) are an important group of hormones which exert various effects on promoter and regulator of plant growth. Gibberellic acid (GA3) is a natural plant hormone, with great economical and industrial importance. It affects stem elongation, germination, elimination of dormancy, flowering, sex expression, enzyme induction and leaf and fruit senescence. Despite its diverse applications, the use of GA3 is limited due to its high production costs. The industrial process currently used for the production of GA3 is based on submerged fermentation (SmF) techniques. As an alternative for its production, solid state fermentation (SSF) has also been investigated for its ability to increase the yields of GA3 with the use of agro-industrial wastes as support/substrate, which contributes to the decreased production costs. This review describes GA3’s physical, chemical and biological properties, its production by fermentation and new advances that are being carried out with special interest on the SSF technique.

Production of Organic Acids by Solid-state Fermentation

The global market for fermentation products was estimated as

A new alternative to produce gibberellic acid by solid state fermentation

14.1 billion in 2004 and was expected to rise at an average annual growth rate (AAGR) of 4.7% to

Isolation, selection and evaluation of antagonistic yeasts and lactic acid bacteria against ochratoxigenic fungus Aspergillus westerdijkiae on coffee beans.

17.8 billion in 2009. In this context, organic acids represent the third largest category among the other products. Total market value of organic acid is expected to rise to

Current Developments in Probiotics

3 million in 2009 (Marz 2005). Organic acids are among the most versatile ingredients in food and beverage industries. Citric acid, acetic acid, lactic acid, tartaric acid, malic acid, gluconic acid, propionic acid and fumaric acid are some of the organic acids used widely in various industries. They are obtained as the end-products or sometimes as the intermediate components of a particular biochemical cycle. Generally, organic acids are produced commercially either by chemical synthesis or fermentation. However, fermentation processes are the most commonly used method. All organic acids of tricarboxylic acid cycle can be produced in high yields in microbiological processes. Among fermentation processes, the production of organic acids is dominated by submerged fermentation. Table 1 presents some facts about global production of organic acids. Global production of citric acid has reached 1.4 million tons with annual growths of 3.5-4.0% in demand/consumption rate of citric acid. In terms of volume, citric acid and acetic acid together account for about three-quarters of food acidulants.

Feedstocks for Biofuels

Gibberellic acid (GA3) is an important hormone, which controls plants growth and development. Solid State Fermentation (SSF) allows the use of agro-industrial residues reducing the production costs. The screening of strains (four of Gibberella fujikuoroi and one of Fusarium moniliforme) and substrates (citric pulp, soy bran, sugarcane bagasse, soy husk, cassava bagasse and coffee husk) and inoculum preparation study were conducted in order to evaluate the best conditions to produce GA3 by SSF. Fermentation assays were carried out in erlenmeyers flasks at 29°C, with initial moisture of 75-80%. Different medium for inoculum production were tested in relation to cells viability and GA3 production by SSF. F. moniliforme LPB 03 and citric pulp were chosen for GA3 production. The best medium for inoculum production was citric pulp extract supplemented with sucrose. GA3 production by SSF reached 5.9 g /kg of dry CP after 3 days of fermentation.

Gibberellic Acid Production by Different Fermentation Systems Using Citric Pulp as Substrate/Support

In this study, yeasts and lactic acid bacteria (LAB) were isolated from coffee fruits and identified via biochemical and molecular approaches. The isolates represented the Pichia, Debaryomyces, Candida, Clavispora, Yarrowia, Sporobolomyces, Klyveromyces, Torulaspora and Lactobacillus genera. Four isolates, namely Pichia fermentans LPBYB13, Sporobolomyces roseus LPBY7E, Candida sp. LPBY11B and Lactobacillus brevis LPBB03, were found to have the greatest antagonist activity against an ochratoxigenic strain of Aspergillus westerdijkiae on agar tests and were selected for further characterization. Applications of P. fermentans LPBYB13 in coffee cherries artificially contaminated with A. westerdijkiae showed efficacy in reducing ochratoxin A (OTA) content up to 88%. These results highlight that P. fermentans LPBYB13 fulfils the principle requirements of an efficient biological control of aflatoxigenic fungi in coffee beans and may be seen as a reliable candidate for further validation in field conditions.

Potential applications of plant probiotic microorganisms in agriculture and forestry

Probiotic products have been used worldwide in the last decades. They are significantly gaining popularity and their consumption is associated with increasing levels of health-consciousness and availability in the form of dietary supplements. Probiotics can be defined as microbial cells that have a beneficial effect on the health and wellbeing of the host. The use of probiotics in the treatment of a number of inflammatory conditions is well known, which includes arthritis, pouchitis, Crohns disease and colitis. Some important actions are also reported such as the control of the intestinal microbiota, decrease of the pathogens population by the production of lactic acids, bacteriocins and other antimicrobial compound forms, prevention or suppression of colon cancer, reduction of cholesterol, improvement of allergic states and treatment of the respiratory tract. In this sense different probiotic products have appeared on the market with different formulations and applications. This paper presents review about probiotics products your use and health benefits.

Production and Application of Lactic Acid

Considering the great interest of the countries around the world and the great number of research of many groups from Institutes, Universities, Companies, aiming to allow the use of biomass to produce biofuel, this chapter may give data and basic information about vegetable cultures and organic residues available to generate any kind of biofuel. Concerning to this a general view is given about crops where its main constituent component is sugar, starch, oil, with some principal examples. Besides, data, facilities and examples are given about lignocellulolytic cultures and residues, as far as solid and liquid residues generated in some industrial processes. The data available, includes, amount of each potential energetic source of raw material for biofuel, physic-chemical characteristics, production region, agronomic data, productivity, production, and other information useful for researchers works aiming the production of bioethanol, biodiesel, and biohydrogen.