Off-Line Quality Control in Bioproducts Processing: A Case Study in Greece

In the present article we study the production of grape molasses. Data drawn from a specified biolaboratory, are properly analyzed in order to detect factors that affect significantly the Brix value and the volatile acidity of the final product. The ground that is used for planting and a variety of grapes have been taken into account. Off-line statistical quality control techniques have been employed and the outcomes are displayed and discussed in detail.

Solid-state fermentation technology and innovation for the production of agricultural and animal feed bioproducts

It has now passed more than forty years since solid-state fermentation(SSF)research developments have gained importance for the scientific community.After so many years,numerous processes and equipment for SSF were studied and designed focusing on the production of different commercially relevant bioproducts such as enzymes,fermented food,such as Chinese daqu and koji,organic acids,pigments,phenolic compounds,aromas,biosorbents and so many others.However,no review paper has been focused yet specifically on agricultural and animal feed bioproducts obtained through SSF techniques.This review comprises the description of agricultural sub-products that have been employed in most important developed pro-cesses concerning the production of animal feed products and agricultural products such as spores,probiotics,biofungicides,bioinsecticides and other biopesticides,biofertilizers and plant growth hormones.Major designed SSF bioreactors are also described and the most important related cases of successful employment of the technique are reported.Finally,a summary of patents and innovations regarding SSF products and processes in this area is presented,showing that the main involved countries are China,South Korea,India and the USA.It is clear that the interest in this theme is increasing and that scientific and technological developments are still needed.

Root Growth, Mycorrhizal Frequency and Soil Microorganisms in Strawberry as Affected by Biopreparations

The aim of the study was to assess the effects of various biopreparations on the growth of the strawberry root system, the number of spores of mycorrhizal fungi, the total number of bacteria in the rhizosphere soil, and the degree of mycorrhizal association in the roots of two strawberry cultivars. The experiment with strawberry plants was established in the spring of 2010 in the Experimental Orchard of the Institute of Horticulture in Dabrowice. The objects of research were “frigo” strawberry plants of the cultivars Elsanta and Elkat. The following experimental combinations were used: control, control NPK (standard NPK fertilization), manure, mycorrhizal preparation Micosat F, Humus UP, Humus Active + Aktywit PM, BioFeed Amin, BioFeed Quality, Tytanit, Vinassa, Florovit Eko, and Florovit Pro Natura. The use of the biopreparation BioFeed Quality resulted in a six-fold increase in root length and a seven-fold increase in root surface area. Compared with NPK fertilization, application of the preparation BioFeed Amin contributed to an eight-fold increase in root volume, and the use of Vinassa increased 24-fold the number of root tips of Elkat strawberry plants. Micosat F and Humus UP caused a five-fold increase in mycorrhizal frequency in the roots of strawberry plants. Micosat F and manure contributed to a two- and four-fold increase, respectively, in the number of spores in the rhizosphere soil. Application of the preparations Humus UP, BioFeed Amin and Florovit Eko doubled the total number of bacteria and filamentous fungi in the rhizosphere soil of strawberry plants of the cultivars Elsanta and Elkat in comparison with NPK fertilization. Fertilization with the biopreparations intensified the growth of the root system and increased the number of spores of AM fungi, mycorrhizal frequency, and the total number of bacteria and filamentous fungi in the soil.

Biogeochemistry of Lake Baikal Stony Littoral

The problem of biogenic income from rocks into a water ecosystem and of their use by hydrobionts is considered by the example of Lake Baikal biogeocenoses. A complex interreaction of stony material and Baikal water occurs on the stony littoral of Lake Baikal with an active participation of benthic and planktonic hydrobionts. Biogeochemical processes enable income of biophile elements providing productivity of stony littoral and hydrobionts biodiversity. A particular role in the littoral zone belongs to symbiotic organisms: lichens and sponges. They extract from the tocks a wide spectrum of macro- and micro- elements including phosphorus, fixe nitrogen and consume carbon. Biodiversity and bioproductivity of stony littoral depend on the diversity of petrographic composition of the rocks and on their geochemical peculiarities. Increase of anthropogenic impact onto the stony littoral manifested by income of biogenic elements and alien microbial cenosis flow results in degradation of primary aquatic biogeocenoses.

Progeny evaluation of Jatropha curcas and Pongamia pinnata with comparison to bioproductivity and biodiesel parameters

Progeny studies of Jatropha curcas and Pongamia pinnata were carried with respect to bioproductivity,pod and seed characters which is one of the selection methods in tree improvement programmes. Variations in bioproductivity and biodiesel parameters of both the plants were compared every 6 months for 4 years of investigation and analyzed by analysis of variance and correlation coefficient by Pearson＇s method using software Graphpad instat 3.06（for Windows and Mac）. P. pinnata has better germination rate（71.4 %）, 100 pod weight（PW）（311.59 g） and 100 seed weight（SW）（173.46 g） as compared to J. curcas for germination rate（43.2 %）, 100 PW（111.29 g） and 100 SW（67.46 g）. P. pinnata has strong correlation for plant height to canopy growth（CG）（0.948）, collar diameter（CD）（0.994）, number of branches per plant（NBP）（0.995） and to number of leaves per branch（NLB）（0.862） as compared to J.curcas which showed good correlation among plant height to CG（0.976）, CD（0.970）, NBP（0.988）, NLB（0.920） and to number of pods per branch（0.657）. However, J. curcas depicted negative correlation for pod breadth to seed length（SL）（-0.447）, seed breadth（-0.248） and to seed thickness（ST）（-0.364） and among the 100 PW to SL（-0.199）, ST（-0.220） and to 100 SW（-0.704）. About 4 kg of P. pinnata seeds were required for each liter of crude oil which yields896 ml of biodiesel on transesterification as compared to5.66 kg of J. curcas seeds for a liter of crude oil, producing about 663 ml of biodiesel. The quality of biodiesel meets the major specification of American Society for Testing and Materials（ASTM） standards for biodiesel. The crude glycerin and seed cake obtained as byproduct during biodiesel production were also measured which can be purified and used in composting, animal feeds, pharmaceuticals and cosmetic industries.

3-81 Enhancement of Bioproduction of Butyrate by Heavy-ion Irradiation

Butyric acid as a renewable resource has become an increasingly attractive alternative to petroleum based fuels.Clostridium tyrobutyricum is well documented as a fermentation strain for the production of acids. However, it hasbeen reported that butyrate inhibits its growth, and the accumulation of acetate also inhibits biomass synthesis,making production of butyric acid from conventional fermentation processes economically challenging. The presentstudy aimed to identify whether irradiation of C. tyrobutyricum cells makes them more tolerant to butyric acidinhibition and increases the production of butyrate compared with wild type.

Influence of detergent on metabolic activity of fungi Aspergillus niger

The aim of this study was to find out, among grate variety of fungi species from wastewater these which are resistant to effects of detergent and its component, ethoxyl-oleyl-cetyl alcohol and sodium tripolyphosphate. On inoculated fungi specie grown in vitro condition, in the presence of mentioned pollutant, the metabolic changes of bioproduction of different organic compounds, in various aging step of fungi, have been investigated. The results indicated sig-nificant changes in bioproduction of amino ac-ids and proteins of Aspergillus niger cultivated in the presence of detergent and its component, compared with control experiment. The results suggest that bioremediation by Aspergillus ni-ger are promising for biodegradation of deter-gents in aquatic systems.

Blue economy:A new era of petroleum microbiology in a changing climate

The productivity and health of our ocean hold some good solutions to the world’s challenges in socio-economy.However,climate change and waste discharge are changing the marine capacity to buffer human impacts,further challenging the marine industry,primarily in offshore oil and gas,shipping,and fishery operations.These encourage the blue economy,a sustainable development approach to utilize marine resources.Petroleum microbiology dealing with microbes that can respond,degrade,and alter crude oils,offers an unprecedented opportunity to achieve the knowledge-and science-based blue economy.However,the new-era petroleum microbiology for supporting the blue economy has yet to be systematically discussed.This review introduces the climate change impacts on key marine industrial sectors,highlights the critical role of advanced petroleum microbiology in supporting sustainable development,and offers insight into the challenges and future research opportunities in availing of petroleum microbiology for benefiting our marine environment and responsible economic growth.

Lignin bioconversion into valuable products:fractionation,depolymerization,aromatic compound conversion,and bioproduct formation

Lignin fractionation and depolymerization generates heterogeneous streams of aromatic compounds and conversion of aromatic compounds into valuable products,but it is not efficient.Many microbes in nature have evolved metabolic path-ways to convert complex lignin polymers into aromatic compounds and transform these aromatic compounds into central intermediates for bioproduct synthesis.The objective of this paper is to review the recent process development of lignin bioconversion into aromatic compounds and bioproducts.Lignin structural and molecular changes during fractionation and depolymerization are presented.Subsequent lignin conversion into aromatic compounds by upper pathways and further converted into central metabolites and bioproducts via lower pathways are emphasized.In particular,enzymes and mediator systems to enhance lignin conversion and key intermediates in lignin catabolic pathways are discussed.Strategies to enhance bioproduct formation through lignin valorization are summarized.

Bioproduction of D-psicose using permeabilized cells of newly isolated Rhodobacter sphaeroides SK011

D-psicose exits in an extremely small amount in nature and is difficult to be chemically synthesized.Only three bacteria have been used in the biotransformation of D-psicose from D-fructose.In this paper,another bacterium which could convert D-fructose to D-psicose was isolated and identified as Rhodobacter sphaeroides.The process parameters of D-psicose production using permeabilized cells of Rhodobacter sphaeroides SK011 were optimized,including the permeabilization procedure:0.1%(w/v)CTAB,10 min,and reaction conditions:cell concentration,30 g dry cell wt/L;concentration of substrate,50 g/L;40℃,pH 9.0;reaction time,8 h.Under the optimized conditions,the permeabilized cells produced approximately 6.5 g/L D-psicose with a Dpsicose productivity of 0.82 g·L^(-1)·h^(-1).This is the first report of bioproduction of D-psicose using permeabilized cells of Rhodobacter sphaeroides.

Crop residues: applications of lignocellulosic biomass in the context of a biorefinery

Interest in lignocellulosic biomass conversion technologies has increased recently because of their potential to reduce the dependency on non-renewable feedstocks. Residues from a variety of crops are the major source of lignocellulose, which is being produced in increasingly large quantities worldwide. The commercial exploitation of crop residues as feedstocks for biorefineries which could be used to produce a variety of goods such as biofuels, biochemicals, bioplastics, and enzymes is an attractive approach not only for adding value to residues but also for providing renewable products required by the expanding bioeconomy market. Moreover, the implementation of biorefineries in different regions has the potential to add value to the specific crop residues produced in the region. In this review, several aspects of crop residue application in biorefineries are discussed, including the role of crop residues in the bioeconomy and circular economy concepts, the main technical aspects of crop residue conversion in biorefineries, the main crop residues generated in different regions of the world and their availability, the potential value-added bioproducts that can be extracted or produced from each crop residue, and the major advantages and challenges associated with crop residue utilization in biorefineries. Despite their potential, most biomass refining technologies are not sufficiently advanced or financially viable. Several technical obstacles, especially with regard to crop residue collection, handling, and pre-treatment, prevent the implementation of biorefineries on a commercial scale. Further research is needed to resolve these scale-up-related challenges. Increased governmental incentives and bioeconomic strategies are expected to boost the biorefinery market and the cost competitiveness of biorefinery products.

Cytochrome P450s in algae:Bioactive natural product biosynthesis and light-driven bioproduction

Algae are a large group of photo synthetic organisms responsible for approximately half of the earth’s total photosynthesis.In addition to their fundamental ecological roles as oxygen producers and as the food base for almost all aquatic life,algae are also a rich source of bioactive natural products,including several clinical drugs.Cytochrome P450 enzymes(P450s) are a superfamily of biocatalysts that are extensively involved in natural product biosynthesis by mediating various types of reactions.In the post-genome era,a growing number of P450 genes have been discovered from algae,indicating their important roles in algal life-cycle.However,the functional studies of algal P450s remain limited.Benefitting from the recent technical advances in algae cultivation and genetic manipulation,the researches on P450s in algal natural product biosynthesis have been approaching to a new stage.Moreover,some photoauto trophic algae have been developed into "photo-bioreactors" for heterologous P450s to produce high-value added pharmaceuticals and chemicals in a carbon-neutral or carbon-negative manner.Here,we comprehensively review these advances of P450 studies in algae from 2000 to 2021.

Liquefaction of bamboo biomass and production of three fractions containing aromatic compounds

Depolymerization of lignin to produce value-added aromatic monomers has attracted increasing attention since these monomers can be used as phenol replacement in production of phenolic resins.Here a one-pot depolymerization of bamboo lignin was investigated to obtain aromatic platforms with low molecular weight using acidic catalyst and ethanol.Three fractions(1#,2#,and 3#)containing different molecular weight distributions of aromatic compounds could be efficiently extracted using water-organic solvent system via a stepwise fractionation process by gradual removal of solvent.The fractions distribution was found to be primarily dependent on the reaction temperature and time.When the temperature was increased from 160°C to 200°C,the yield of fractions containing aromatic products increased significantly from 19.1 wt%to 27 wt%,the same change trend was found by changing the time,and the yield of aromatic products increased from 22.4%to 26.7%with an increase of time from 10 min to 30 min.The bioproducts were characterized by using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry(GC-MS),gel permeation chromatography(GPC)and two-dimensional heteronuclear single-quantum coherence(2D HSQC NMR).As evidenced by GC-MS spectra,the three fractions were mainly comprised of phenolic derivatives,and the relative contents of phenolic compounds took up about 80%of the total area of each fraction.With the similar physiochemical properties of the fractions,aromatic platforms could provide a new paradigm of bamboo lignin utilization for renewable energy and value-added biochemicals.