Bioprocess Engineering and Fermentation Technology: Valorization of By-Products and Residues from the Agroindustry Sector

A special issue of Bioengineering (ISSN 2306-5354). This special issue belongs to the section "Biochemical Engineering".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 January 2024) | Viewed by 5316

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Chemical Engineering and Environmental Technology, Institute of Sustainable Processes, Universidad de Valladolid, Valladolid, Spain
Interests: valorization of agroindustrial residues; bioprocesses; pretreatment; SSF; fermentation technology; biofuels; biobutanol; 2,3-butanediol

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Guest Editor
Department of Chemical Engineering and Environmental Technology, Institute of Sustainable Processes, Universidad de Valladolid, Valladolid, Spain
Interests: valorization of agroindustrial residues; bioprocesses; pretreatment; SSF; fermentation technology; biofuels; biobutanol; 2,3-butanediol

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

One of the sustainable development goals set by the UN is responsible production and consumption as a means to alleviate poverty and facilitate the transition to a clean and circular economy with lower greenhouse gas emissions. Moreover, the sustainable management of natural resources will reduce the dependence on non-renewable unsustainable resources. Research and innovation towards the production of new and sustainable bio-based products is therefore essential.

The agro-industrial sector generates a large volume of waste and by-products, which can potentially be used in the production of commodities, such as biofuels or other high-value-added bioproducts. It is necessary to develop new bioprocesses or optimize existing ones, to establish new fermentation and separation strategies that allow significant improvements in yield and/or productivity, while minimizing process costs, including those associated with downstream stages.

This Special Issue will focus on recent developments that allow the valorization of agro-industrial waste into value-added products through bioprocesses, including among others the following topics:

  • bioprocess design and optimization
  • improvements in fermentation processes, including the use of genetically modified micro-organisms
  • Intensification strategies aimed at integrating saccharification, fermentation and/or separation stages.
  • techno-economic evaluation of bioprocesses

Prof. Dr. María Teresa García-Cubero
Dr. Juan Carlos López-Linares
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • agroindustry by-products and residues valorization
  • bioprocess intensification
  • techno-economics of bioprocesses
  • bioprocess optimization

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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24 pages, 5527 KiB  
Article
A New Phenolic Acid Decarboxylase from the Brown-Rot Fungus Neolentinus lepideus Natively Decarboxylates Biosourced Sinapic Acid into Canolol, a Bioactive Phenolic Compound
by Elise Odinot, Alexandra Bisotto-Mignot, Toinou Frezouls, Bastien Bissaro, David Navarro, Eric Record, Frédéric Cadoret, Annick Doan, Didier Chevret, Frédéric Fine and Anne Lomascolo
Bioengineering 2024, 11(2), 181; https://doi.org/10.3390/bioengineering11020181 - 14 Feb 2024
Viewed by 936
Abstract
Rapeseed meal (RSM) is a cheap, abundant and renewable feedstock, whose biorefinery is a current challenge for the sustainability of the oilseed sector. RSM is rich in sinapic acid (SA), a p-hydroxycinnamic acid that can be decarboxylated into canolol (2,6-dimethoxy-4-vinylphenol), a valuable [...] Read more.
Rapeseed meal (RSM) is a cheap, abundant and renewable feedstock, whose biorefinery is a current challenge for the sustainability of the oilseed sector. RSM is rich in sinapic acid (SA), a p-hydroxycinnamic acid that can be decarboxylated into canolol (2,6-dimethoxy-4-vinylphenol), a valuable bioactive compound. Microbial phenolic acid decarboxylases (PADs), mainly described for the non-oxidative decarboxylation of ferulic and p-coumaric acids, remain very poorly documented to date, for SA decarboxylation. The species Neolentinus lepideus has previously been shown to biotransform SA into canolol in vivo, but the enzyme responsible for bioconversion of the acid has never been characterized. In this study, we purified and characterized a new PAD from the canolol-overproducing strain N. lepideus BRFM15. Proteomic analysis highlighted a sole PAD-type protein sequence in the intracellular proteome of the strain. The native enzyme (NlePAD) displayed an unusual outstanding activity for decarboxylating SA (Vmax of 600 U.mg−1, kcat of 6.3 s−1 and kcat/KM of 1.6 s−1.mM−1). We showed that NlePAD (a homodimer of 2 × 22 kDa) is fully active in a pH range of 5.5–7.5 and a temperature range of 30–55 °C, with optima of pH 6–6.5 and 37–45 °C, and is highly stable at 4 °C and pH 6–8. Relative ratios of specific activities on ferulic, sinapic, p-coumaric and caffeic acids, respectively, were 100:24.9:13.4:3.9. The enzyme demonstrated in vitro effectiveness as a biocatalyst for the synthesis of canolol in aqueous medium from commercial SA, with a molar yield of 92%. Then, we developed processes to biotransform naturally-occurring SA from RSM into canolol by combining the complementary potentialities of an Aspergillus niger feruloyl esterase type-A, which is able to release free SA from the raw meal by hydrolyzing its conjugated forms, and NlePAD, in aqueous medium and mild conditions. NlePAD decarboxylation of biobased SA led to an overall yield of 1.6–3.8 mg canolol per gram of initial meal. Besides being the first characterization of a fungal PAD able to decarboxylate SA, this report shows that NlePAD is very promising as new biotechnological tool to generate biobased vinylphenols of industrial interest (especially canolol) as valuable platform chemicals for health, nutrition, cosmetics and green chemistry. Full article
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26 pages, 4352 KiB  
Article
Effect of Mycotoxins in Silage on Biogas Production
by Antonín Kintl, Tomáš Vítěz, Igor Huňady, Julie Sobotková, Tereza Hammerschmiedt, Monika Vítězová, Martin Brtnický, Jiří Holátko and Jakub Elbl
Bioengineering 2023, 10(12), 1387; https://doi.org/10.3390/bioengineering10121387 - 02 Dec 2023
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Abstract
Mycotoxins can pose a threat to biogas production as they can contaminate the feedstock used in biogas production, such as agricultural crops and other organic materials. This research study evaluated the contents of deoxynivalenol (DON), zearalenone (ZEA), fumonisin (FUM), and aflatoxin (AFL) mycotoxins [...] Read more.
Mycotoxins can pose a threat to biogas production as they can contaminate the feedstock used in biogas production, such as agricultural crops and other organic materials. This research study evaluated the contents of deoxynivalenol (DON), zearalenone (ZEA), fumonisin (FUM), and aflatoxin (AFL) mycotoxins in maize silage prior to it being processed in a biogas plant and in digestate produced at the end of the anaerobic digestion (AD) process. In the experiment, three samples of silage were collected from one silage warehouse: Variant 1 = low contamination, Variant 2 = medium contamination, and Variant 3 = heavy contamination, which were subjected to investigation. A significantly reduced biogas production was recorded that was proportional to the increasing contamination with molds, which was primarily due to the AD of silage caused by technologically erroneous silage treatment. The AD was connected with changes in silage composition expressed by the values of VS content, sugar content, lactic acid content, acetic acid content, and the ratio of lactic acid content to acetic acid content. The production of biogas and methane decreased with the increasing contents of NDF, ADF, CF, and lignin. The only exception was Variant 2, in which the content of ADF, CF, and lignin was lower (by 8–11%) than that in Variant 1, and only the content of NDF was higher (by 9%) than that in Variant 1. A secondary factor that also correlated with changes in the composition of the substrate was the development of undesirable organisms, which further contributed to its degradation and to the production of mycotoxins. It was also demonstrated in this study that during the AD process, the tested mycotoxins were degraded, and their content was reduced by 27–100%. Only the variant with low mold contamination showed a DON concentration increase of 27.8%. Full article
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19 pages, 4038 KiB  
Article
Carrot Discard as a Promising Feedstock to Produce 2,3-Butanediol by Fermentation with P. polymyxa DSM 365
by Juan Carlos López-Linares, Adrián Mateo Martínez, Mónica Coca, Susana Lucas and María Teresa García-Cubero
Bioengineering 2023, 10(8), 937; https://doi.org/10.3390/bioengineering10080937 - 07 Aug 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 864
Abstract
The valorization of fruit and vegetable residues (such as carrot discard) and their microbial conversion into 2,3-butanediol (BDO) can be considered as a very interesting way to reduce food waste and sustainably originate high value-added products. This work analyzes the valorization of carrot [...] Read more.
The valorization of fruit and vegetable residues (such as carrot discard) and their microbial conversion into 2,3-butanediol (BDO) can be considered as a very interesting way to reduce food waste and sustainably originate high value-added products. This work analyzes the valorization of carrot discard as feedstock for 2,3-butanediol (BDO) production by Paenibacillus polymyxa DSM 365. The influences of stirring and the presence of tryptone (nitrogen source) are studied. Furthermore, in order to evaluate the influence of the pre-culture medium (nitrogen source, nutrients, and pH) and the substrate, fermentation assays in simple and mixture semi-defined media (glucose, fructose, and/or galactose) were also carried out. As a result, 18.8 g/L BDO, with a BDO yield of 0.43 g/g (86% of its theoretical value), could be obtained from carrot discard enzymatic hydrolysate at 100 rpm, no tryptone, and pre-culture Häßler medium. No hydrothermal pre-treatment was necessary for BDO production from carrot discard, which increases the profitability of the process. Therefore, 18.8 g BDO, as well as 2.5 g ethanol and 2.1 g acetoin by-products, could be obtained from 100 g of carrot discard (dry matter). Full article
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Review

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21 pages, 1512 KiB  
Review
Mass Transfer Enhancement in High-Solids Anaerobic Digestion of Organic Fraction of Municipal Solid Wastes: A Review
by Qingwei Gao, Lili Li, Kun Wang and Qingliang Zhao
Bioengineering 2023, 10(9), 1084; https://doi.org/10.3390/bioengineering10091084 - 14 Sep 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1736
Abstract
The increasing global population and urbanization have led to a pressing need for effective solutions to manage the organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW). High-solids anaerobic digestion (HS-AD) has garnered attention as a sustainable technology that offers reduced water demand and energy [...] Read more.
The increasing global population and urbanization have led to a pressing need for effective solutions to manage the organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW). High-solids anaerobic digestion (HS-AD) has garnered attention as a sustainable technology that offers reduced water demand and energy consumption, and an increased biogas production rate. However, challenges such as rheology complexities and slow mass transfer hinder its widespread application. To address these limitations, this review emphasizes the importance of process optimization and the mass transfer enhancement of HS-AD, and summarizes various strategies for enhancing mass transfer in the field of HS-AD for the OFMSW, including substrate pretreatments, mixing strategies, and the addition of biochar. Additionally, the incorporation of innovative reactor designs, substrate pretreatment, the use of advanced modeling and simulation techniques, and the novel conductive materials need to be investigated in future studies to promote a better coupling between mass transfer and methane production. This review provides support and guidance to promote HS-AD technology as a more viable solution for sustainable waste management and resource recovery. Full article
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