Luciana Porto de Souza Vandenberghe

Biotechnological potential of agro-industrial residues. II: cassava bagasse.

Abstract Advances in industrial biotechnology offer potential opportunities for economic utilization of agro-industrial residues such as cassava bagasse. Cassava bagasse, which is a fibrous material, is the by-product of the cassava-processing industry. It contains about 30–50% starch on dry weight basis. Due to its rich organic nature and low ash content, it can serve as an ideal substrate for microbial processes for the production of value added products. Attempts have been made to produce several products such as organic acids, flavour and aroma compounds, and mushrooms from cassava bagasse. Solid-state fermentation has been mostly employed for bioconversion processes. This paper reviews the developments in processes and products developed for the value addition of cassava bagasse through biotechnological means.

Bioethanol from lignocelluloses: Status and perspectives in Brazil.

The National Alcohol Program--PróAlcool, created by the government of Brazil in 1975 resulted less dependency on fossil fuels. The addition of 25% ethanol to gasoline reduced the import of 550 million barrels oil and also reduced the emission CO(2) by 110 million tons. Today, 44% of the Brazilian energy matrix is renewable and 13.5% is derived from sugarcane. Brazil has a land area of 851 million hectares, of which 54% are preserved, including the Amazon forest (350 million hectares). From the land available for agriculture (340 million hectares), only 0.9% is occupied by sugarcane as energy crop, showing a great expansion potential. Studies have shown that in the coming years, ethanol yield per hectare of sugarcane, which presently is 6000 L/ha, could reach 10,000 L/ha, if 50% of the produced bagasse would be converted to ethanol. This article describes the efforts of different Brazilian institutions and research groups on second generation bioethanol production, especially from sugarcane bagasse.

Overview of applied solid-state fermentation in Brazil

Abstract This review discusses the history and evolution of solid-state fermentation (SSF) in Brazil in the last 15 years. SSF processes and applications are presented here pointing out the advantages and perspectives for the use of this technique. Brazilian economy is strongly dependent on the various kinds of agro-industrial production such as coffee, sugar cane, soybean, etc., which also generates huge quantities of agro-industrial residues such as sugarcane bagasse, apple pomace, coffee husk and pulp, soybean defatted cake and declassified potatoes. Following the global trends on SSF research, since last 15 years the Laboratory of Biotechnological Processes (LPB) of Federal University of Parana (UFPR) started a very promising journey through the development of SSF processes using agro-industrial residues for protein enrichment, biological detoxification, production of biomolecules such as enzyme, organic acids, food aroma compounds, biopesticides, mushrooms, pigments, xanthan gum, hormones (gibberellic acid (GA3)), etc. The basic aim has been to develop a laboratory scale bioprocess and optimize the production applying biochemical engineering principles.

Solid-state fermentation for the synthesis of citric acid by Aspergillus niger.

Solid-state fermentation was carried out to evaluate three different agro-industrial wastes, sugar cane bagasse, coffee husk and cassava bagasse for their efficiency in production of citric acid by a culture of Aspergillus niger. Cassava bagasse best supported the moulds growth, giving the highest yield of citric acid among the tested substrates. Results showed the fungal strain had good adaptation to the substrate (cassava bagasse) and increased the protein content (23 g/kg) in the fermented matter. Citric acid production reached a maximum (88-g/kg dry matter) when fermentation was carried out with cassava bagasse having initial moisture of 62% at 26°C for 120 h.

Microbial production of citric acid

Citric acid is the most important organic acid produced in tonnage and is extensively used in food and pharmaceutical industries. It is produced mainly by submerged fermentation using Aspergillus niger or Candida sp. from different sources of carbohydrates, such as molasses and starch based media. However, other fermentation techniques, e.g. solid state fermentation and surface fermentation, and alternative sources of carbon such as agro-industrial residues have been intensively studied showing great perspective to its production. This paper reviews recent developments on citric acid production by presenting a brief summary of the subject, describing micro-organisms, production techniques, and substrates, etc.

Application of the biorefinery concept to produce L-lactic acid from the soybean vinasse at laboratory and pilot scale.

Lactic acid is a product that finds several applications in food, cosmetic, pharmaceutical and chemical industries. The main objective of this work was the development of a bioprocess to produce L(+)-lactic acid using soybean vinasse as substrate. Among ten strains, Lactobacillus agilis LPB 56 was selected for fermentation, due to its ability to metabolize the complex oligosaccharides. Fermentation was conducted without need for supplementary inorganic nitrogen sources or yeast extract. Kinetic and yield parameters determined at laboratory scale were 0.864 and 0.0162 for YP/S and YX/S, 0.0145 g/L h (rx), 1.32 g/L h (rs) and 1.13 g/L h (rp). The use of vinasse enriched with soybean molasses provided higher lactic acid concentration (138 g/L), the best proportion of inoculum being 25% (v/v). After scale-up to a pilot plant, kinetic and yield parameters were 0.849 and 0.0353 for YP/S and YX/S, 0.0278 g/L h (rx), 0.915 g/L h (rs) and 0.863 g/L h (rp).

Lignocellulosic Bioethanol: Current Status and Future Perspectives

Publisher Summary Lignocellulosic biomass is an attractive alternative material for bioethanol fuel production. Lignocellulose is the most abundant renewable resource on Earth, and it constitutes a large component of the wastes originating from municipal, agricultural, forestry, and some industrial sources. The more widespread geographical distribution of lignocellulose sources, compared to fossil reserves, can provide security of supply by using domestic sources of energy. The use of lignocellulosic materials would minimize the conflict between land use for food (and feed) production and energy feedstock production. This raw material is less expensive than conventional agricultural feedstock and can be produced with lower input of fertilizers, pesticides, and energy. Biofuels from lignocellulose generate low net GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions, reducing environmental impact, particularly on climate change. Currently, some countries are producing ethanol from cellulosic feedstock at different development stages, and several public/private international projects have been developed in the biorenewable sector to promote a bio-based economy. Depending on the feedstock considered, its availability for bioethanol production can vary considerably from season to season, and depending on geographic locations, could also pose difficulty in their supply. The changes in the price of feedstocks can highly affect the production costs of bioethanol. Because feedstocks typically account for greater than one third of the production costs, maximizing bioethanol yield would be imperative. Each country must find the best and economical way to use their feedstocks and residues in order to produce biofuels. Brazilian bioethanol program is an example of the efficiency of sugarcane production and high technology bioethanol production.

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.

Pilot scale biodiesel production from microbial oil of Rhodosporidium toruloides DEBB 5533 using sugarcane juice: Performance in diesel engine and preliminary economic study

A successful pilot-scale process for biodiesel production from microbial oil (Biooil) produced by Rhodosporidium toruloides DEBB 5533 is presented. Using fed-batch strategy (1000L working volume), a lipid productivity of 0.44g/L.h was obtained using a low-cost medium composed by sugarcane juice and urea. The microbial oil was used for biodiesel production and its performance was evaluated in diesel engine tests, showing very good performance, especially for the blend B20 SCO, when operating at 2500rpm with lower pollutant emissions (CO2 - 220% less; CO - 7-fold less; NOX 50% less and no detectable HC emissions (<0.11ppm)) when compared with the blends of standard biofuel from soybean oil. A preliminary analysis showed that microbial biodiesel is economically competitive (US